Watch Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Pay Tribute To Eddie Van Halen

The late Eddie Van Halen was honored by the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame during its induction ceremony on November 7, 2020. Guitarists Slash, Tom Morello, and Kirk Hammett spoke about the legacy left by the hard rock icon in a special broadcast by HBO and HBO Max.

Slash said: “Eddie Van Halen was a tremendously gifted musician. His style and his sound were completely unique to him. He had a massive impact on guitar playing. I don’t think there’s anybody that’s picked up the guitar since 1978 that hasn’t been touched in some way by Eddie Van Halen’s influence. I’m going to miss his playing and I’m going to miss him as a friend.”

Metallica shredder Kirk Hammett recalled Van Halen’s powerful influence, saying, “Not since Jimi Hendrix had there been a guitar player that had so much impact, and was so inspiring to me. He just explored the most simplest thing – a harmonic on his string – and brought it into this realm of technique that no-one even thought was possible. He was just, like, from a different planet.”

Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave said that Van Halen was a modern-day Mozart. “He had the kind of talent that maybe comes around once a century. Eddie Van Halen inspired me to play 20,000 hours, to try to get within 100 miles of his inspired mastery of the electric guitar,” he added.

Eddie Van Halen died on October 6 at a Santa Monica, CA hospital after a long fight against cancer. Archival footage of Eddie Van Halen flashed on the screen while the three aforementioned guitarists spoke their admiration of him.

https://youtu.be/TEqdjz6NAJ8