The founder of Van Halen died this Tuesday in Santa Monica from throat cancer.

Hard rock made the electric guitar his ultimate fetish, with its angular sound, its shrill noises and that warmth that seems to emanate from distortion and volume, and among all the heroes of his plastic expressiveness, Eddie Van Halen was one of the best known and most celebrated. That athletic worshiper of the old rock liturgy died this Tuesday at the age of 65, due to throat cancer, in a hospital in Santa Monica (USA).

Van Halen was a guitar god when the guitar had gods. In the three decades between the first English rock wave in the mid-1960s and the commercial explosion of so-called alternative rock in the mid-1990s, being an electric guitar virtuoso was the best attribute of any aspiring man. rock star could treasure. Van Halen was king in the 1980s and retained the aura of his legend for the rest of his life.

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Rock legend & guitar hero #EddieVanHalen died today at the age of 65. THR looks back at the time the legendary rocker unexpectedly became an #SNL musical guest, at the link in bio.

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His long solos with dizzying cascading notes were the hallmarks of his popular band, Van Halen , which he shared with his brother Alex (drums) and bombastic vocalist David Lee Roth.

Van Halen was a great touring show of rock, hairspray, sweaty breasts and fireworks that toured the world for two decades spreading fist-raised hymns like Jump , Ain't Talkin '' Bout Love , Runnin 'With the Devil , And the Cradle Will Rock or Panama . Although it is true that his millions of fans knew the lyrics, what they knew by heart and could sing without missing a note or effect were the solos of those songs (or of Beat it , by Michael Jackson, that Eddie Van Halen recorded in half an hour without charging after receiving the invitation from producer Quincy Jones).