Eddie Van Halen's death on October 6 provoked an immense outpouring of grief throughout the guitar universe, an outpouring befitting of a man whose incredible skills inspired so many to take their playing to another level, and so many more to pick up a guitar in the first place.
One of these tributes came from a man who himself knows a thing or two about changing the face of rock guitar, and inspiring millions to pick up the instrument for the first time, Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page.
“It is with great sadness that I heard the passing of Eddie Van Halen," Page wrote in an Instagram post.
“He was the real deal: he pioneered a dazzling technique on guitar with taste and panache that I felt always placed him above his imitators.
“It was good to see him featured at the Met’s Play It Loud Exhibition. R. I. P. Eddie.”
The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Play It Loud exhibit, which ran from April 8 to October 1, 2019, featured Page's Gibson EDS-1275 double neck and “Number One” 1959 Les Paul in addition to Van Halen's legendary "Frankenstein" guitar, and a reconstruction of his full 1978-era live rig.
"He was everything I hoped he would be. I'll never ever forget that.” Alex Lifeson recalls the thrill of meeting his guitar hero, Jimmy Page
“You’d be surprised how hard it is to find a big rock electric guitarist playing rhythm in tune.” Steve Vai says he's “admired” this guitar player “for quite a while.” Now they're playing together
