Mötley Crüe and Metallica have led the tributes to Eddie Van Halen.
The Van Halen frontman passed away on Tuesday (06.10.20) following a “long and arduous battle” with tongue cancer, his 29-year-old son Wolfgang Van Halen has confirmed, and now the world of music has paid tribute to the late musician.
Mötley Crüe’s Nikki Sixx described Van Halen as the “Mozart of rock guitar”.
Taking to Twitter, he wrote: “Crushed. So f****** crushed. RIP Eddie Van Halen. You changed our world. You were the Mozart of rock guitar. Travel safe rockstar.”
Whilst Metallica shared on their Facebook page: “We are enormously saddened to hear about the untimely passing of Eddie Van Halen.
“We considered him an inspiration, an idol, and after spending a summer together on the road in ’88, a friend. Sending love to Alex, Wolf Van Halen, and everyone in the greater VH family. #LightUpTheSky (sic)”
Billy Idol paid tribute to the “guitar legend” whilst Tony Iommi, one of the founding members of Black Sabbath, admitted he was “devastated” by it all.
Alongside a broken heart emoji, Billy wrote: “Rest in peace guitar legend Eddie Van Halen. We will miss you. #f***cancer @eddievanhalen #eddievanhalen (sic)”
Whilst Tommy shared: “I’m just devastated to hear the news of the passing of my dear friend Eddie Van Halen. He fought a long and hard battle with his cancer right to the very end. Eddie was one of a very special kind of person, a really great friend. Rest In Peace my dear friend till we meet again. (sic)”
Lenny Kravitz insisted heaven would be “electric” following Van Halen’s passing.
He wrote on his social media pages in tribute: “Legendary guitar and musical innovator Edward Van Halen. 1955-2020. Heaven will be electric tonight.”
Eddie’s sad passing at the age of 65 was confirmed by his son.
In a statement posted to Twitter, Wolfgang wrote: “I can’t believe I’m having to write this,] but my father, Edward Lodewijk Van Halen, has lost his long and arduous battle with cancer this morning.
“He was the best father I could ever ask for. Every moment I’ve shared with him on and off stage was a gift. My heart is broken and I don’t think I’ll ever fully recover from this loss. I love you so much, Pop.”