FUN GUITARIST PROFILE: EDDIE VAN HALEN!

Eddie Van Halen

(Our Series Concludes in 3 weeks)

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One must credit Eddie Van Halen as a complex, but enormously popular guitarist who helped usher in innovations to his playing such as two-handed "tapping" that fellow rocker Steve Vai attributed to Van Halen in his own playing. Van Halen himself attributes his signature "tapping" of the guitar fretboard-during-solos approach to watching Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page. His use of vibrato, over-the-top harmonics and technical equipment are inter-woven with one of rocks most successful bands. Eddie himself is ranked #70 on Rolling Stone Magazine's list of 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time. The solo in "Eruption" was also voted #2 on Guitar World magazine's 100 Greatest Guitar Solos.

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Formed in 1974 in Pasadena, California with vocalist David Lee Roth, the band included brother Alex Van Halen on drums, Mark Stone on bass and Eddie Van Halen on lead guitar, KISS Bassist Gene Simmons saw the band in performance and funded the band's demo tape (recorded at New York's Electric Ladyland Studios) which landed a 1977 contract with Warner Brothers Records. Band tensions led David Lee Roth to leave the band in 1985. He was replaced by Sammy Hager from the group Montrose shortly thereafter. "Eruption" was not only the second track of the band's debut album, it is one of the most recognized rock guitar solos of all time along with. "You Really Got Me" was a fun retro version first popularized by the British band, The Kinks. This features Roth on vocals. "Unchained", while not a hit-charter--is nevertheless, one of the group's fan favorites of all time. The "1984" CD contained and "Runnin' with the Devil" and "Jump" which features the instantly recognizable keyboard intro's and searing guitar soloing from Eddie. 11 studio albums later and 80 million units sold, the band has been on hiatus since 2004. Van Halen was inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on March 12, 2007.

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With Sammy Hagar on board the hit "Why Can't This Be Love?" also features Eddie on keyboards as a powerful rock anthem. In 1996, Sammy Hager departed the group to be replaced with Gary Cherone. Plagued with personal and professional challenges (including serious health problems) over the years, the one time teenager who had learned every Jimi Hendrix guitar solo by age 14 and went on to enjoy a reputation as one of the most dedicated rock guitarists with many technical innovations released a statement to fans this past March stating: "I have always and will always feel a responsibility to give you my best. At the moment I do not feel that I can give you my best. That’s why I have decided to enter a rehabilitation facility to work on myself, so that in the future I can deliver the 110% that I feel I owe you and want to give you". Since this news item, Van Halen has announced a 50-date American reunion tour with original singer David Lee Roth to begin in early October. Roth will reunited with co-founders Eddie and Alex Van Halen. Bassist Michael Anthony, however, will be replaced by Eddie’s teenage son Wolfgang.