Oh my God. This man’s guitar licks were the background for so many of my childhood and adolescent experiences. Rest in peace, virtuoso entertainer. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/06/arts/music/eddie-van-halen-dead.html

One of the many things I loved about Eddie Van Halen was that, at a time when so many rockers went out of their way to seem really serious/glum, he always smiled when he was soloing. Like, “I have the greatest job in the world!“

When I think of Eddie Van Halen, I always picture him smiling while playing guitar. Here’s a quintessential Eddie Van Halen “I am rocking the shit out of this“ grin.

“What the hell is happening? I can’t control my fingers! Oh, my gosh!”

“ I can’t stop playing this guitar! Somebody come help me pry my fingers off of these strings! I don’t know what’s happening to me! Crazy!”

I loved Eddie Van Halen. What a fun, exciting presence. An entertainer to the marrow.

My friends and I had this recurring comic bit we would do about Eddie Van Halen doing a solo that continued all the way through his day, as he was eating breakfast, going to the bathroom, getting dressed (somehow), driving, refilling the gas tank. Night falls, he’s still soloing.

“Good night, Eddie! We’re all going to bed now!” “RrrrRRRReeeEeeeeEEEEARHHHH—boodala boodala boodala boodala boodala boodala—sshhPREeee-OWWWWWWW k-PLANG beedelee beedelee beedelee beedelee beedelee KBLOWMMMMMMM”

It’s hard to pick my favorite Van Halen song but I think I have to go with “Jump“ – it was fashionable to hate on this,popular as it was, because it was so goofy, but that’s what I love about it. It’s like a big smiling sun coming up over the horizon.

Let me close this thread by telling you that I had an absolute shit day. Really, really bad. And listening to the first 15 seconds of “Jump“ put me in a good mood again. So thank you, Eddie Van Halen, wherever you are.