Watch The Star Wars-Themed Tribute To Eddie Van Halen

In the wake of Eddie Van Halen’s recent passing, numerous tributes have popped up to pay homage to the trailblazing axman, including this eccentric performance of a Jawa from the Star Wars franchise, who plays “Eruption” to honor EVH’s memory.

In creator Thomas J. Yagodinski’s words: “This was an extremely fun way to pay respects to a musical legend and to also challenge myself to recreate Eddie’s amazing solo, frame by frame via stop-motion animation. Is it perfect? Of course not. That’s impossible and nothing ever is. … The Jawa is a stop-motion puppet I fabricated, and the guitar is the 1:4 scale mini guitar EVH-004 that I further customized. … Hope you have as fun watching as I had creating.”

Before the Jawa commenced its performance, it said: “Edward Lodewijk Van Halen was a virtuoso, innovator, intergalactic legend. Rumors exist of his origin in this galaxy. Once, I scavenged an artifact. I study and learn in deepest tribute.”

“Eruption” was part of Van Halen’s debut album and was recorded in 1977, but almost never saw the light of day had Eddie not listened to producer Ted Templeman. “Our producer, Ted Templeman, heard me practicing it for an upcoming gig and asked, ‘What the hell is that?’ I said, ‘It’s a thing I do live. It’s my guitar solo.’ His immediate reaction was, ‘Roll tape.’ I just didn’t think it was something we’d put on a record. Everyone else agreed that we should throw it on,” said Eddie.