Tribute to an Original: Eddie Van Halen

My college roommate Sharon introduced me to Van Halen somewhere around 1983. I bought the albums Diver Down and 1984. The songs I played over and over were Dancin' in the Streets and Pretty Woman from DD, and Jump from 1984.

I didn't know a lot about their personal lives except that Valerie Bertinelli married Eddie in 1981 and they had a son named Wolfgang, named after Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. They nicknamed him Wolfie.

In the years since I learned that Eddie and Alex were classically trained pianists. 

Learning about Eddie's death a couple of days ago brought back a lot of memories from college and dating John. Van Halen and U2 were our in-common bands. After David Lee Roth left the band, we still followed VH through the Sammy Hagar years and part of the Gary Cherone years (the lead singer from Extreme who took Sammy Hagar's place. My two favorite Extreme songs I wore out were Hole Hearted and More than Words; didn't care for the album's name in case some may wonder, but I digress).

In the last couple of days I learned that Gene Simmons discovered Van Halen around 1976. I watched a short clip on ET on Gene Simmons' words about Eddie. He mentioned last seeing him shortly after Eddie's diagnosis. Eddie had his famous grin on and off the stage. Gene got the courage up to ask about his diagnosis, and Eddie kept it light, then bid goodbye. Gene commented on his constant kindness.

I also learned their father was Dutch and mother Indonesian. They came from Holland when the boys were young. The Van Halen's settled in California, the parents working a lot to keep the boys in school and in piano lessons. Eddie ended up purchasing a drum kit and somehow a guitar got thrown in, either by his parents, or Alex bought it. The short story is they traded instruments and the rest is history. Eddie's words about Alex were something like Alex made music on the drums.

There is so much I don't know, but will end with this; Eddie did the guitar solo for Michael Jackson's Beat It. He made a deal with the producer, Quincy Jones to do the rif. When the "Beat It" musicians were away from the studio, Eddie snuck in and played  around with a few rifs. He layed down a track which Quincy said was better than the one they had written originally. Eddie didn't want pay or credit as VH had a pact that none of them would do solo or side work. Eddie "got away" with it because everyone was on vacation and he had the time to do a favor for his friend Quincy.

In the little information I've gathered these last few days I discovered that though Eddie was a chain smoker and battled alcohol much of his life, he was still known for his good nature. In his later years, he was valued and remained humble. In a short interview clip he was telling his story to some college students and asked them about fifteen minutes into telling his story, "Is this interesting"? They all yelled, "Yes"!

Thank you Eddie for finding new ways to bring music out of an electric guitar and lifting so many spirits. Rest in Peace and know your family is in the world's prayers and hearts now.