The way that he reimagined the instrument was a testament to divine inspiration: taking this kind of this cobbled-together, garage-built guitar and turning it into this divining rod of awesome rock & roll power. He was truly inspirational to generations of guitarists. He did what Hendrix did in 1967. He made people start listening again.

Eddie Van Halen was one of the greatest, most inventive, truly visionary musicians of all time. He was an unparalleled titan in the annals of rock & roll, took it to the next level.

How lucky we are to have had music like this in the 80s!