Commemorating Rangkasbitung Descendant Guitarist, Eddie Van Halen On His 67th Birthday

JAKARTA - Eddie Van Halen's family members and former bandmates shared messages on social media in memory of legendary guitarist Van Halen on his 67th birthday.

Eddie's brother and Van Halen drummer Alex wrote: "Hey Ed, Happy Birthday! May your light never dim. Love you, miss you and by the way... Wolf continues your legacy well."

Meanwhile Eddie's son Wolfgang Van Halen said: "Happy birthday Pop. I love and miss you more than you'll ever know."

Sammy Hagar wrote: "Happy birthday my friend, I will definitely miss you. Thank goodness we still and always will have music to celebrate. Today is 24hrs VH."

Former Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony said: "Happy birthday Ed, I miss you brother! You are a big part of my life, I will always celebrate and fly the VH flag high!!"

Eddie Van Halen died in October 2020 at Providence Saint John Health Center in Santa Monica, California. After his death, fans left flowers at his childhood home on Las Lunas Street in Pasadena, California.

Flowers, candles, and additional keepsakes were placed on Allen Avenue where Eddie Van Halen and his brother, Alex, etched their band name into the wet cement of the pavement when they were teenagers.

After Eddie Van Halen was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer, he started flying to Germany for treatment. Eventually, the cancer spread to the guitarist's spine and brain. Just months later, he died at the age of 65.

30-year-old Wolfgang speculated to The Washington Post that his father could have flown to Germany for more radiation had the coronavirus crisis not occurred, possibly prolonging his life.

In November 2020, Wolfgang said doctors told Eddie Van Halen he had six weeks after he was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer.

“And then he went to Germany,” Wolfgang told Howard Stern on his SiriusXM show. "Whatever they do there, it's amazing, because I have three more years with him."

In December 2020, the immediate cause of Eddie Van Halen's death was revealed to be a cerebrovascular event, such as a stroke. Pneumonia, the blood disorder myelodysplastic syndrome and lung cancer were also named as underlying causes in his death certificate, obtained by TMZ.

The certificate also lists a number of other "significant conditions" that contributed to Eddie Van Halen's death, including squamous cell carcinoma (skin cancer) of the head and neck, and atrial fibrillation, a condition that causes an irregular heartbeat and increases the risk of stroke.

On Eddie Van Halen's 66th birthday, January 26, 2021, artist Robert Vargas unveiled a mural titled Long Live the King that sits in front of the Guitar Center store on Hollywood's Sunset Strip.

Vargas allowed fans to watch the mural-making process. He also plays various Van Halen songs while drawing them

The result, a portrait of Eddie Van Halen with his signature Frankenstrat guitar. The Van Halen logo is the background for the photos that adorn the entire wall.

There is a story behind the process of choosing Eddie Van Halen's pose for this mural. The image of the guitar virtuoso wearing a necklace and holding a guitar is called Vargas as a characteristic of the rock star who has Indonesian descent.

The necklace worn by the guitar god was often worn in the 1980/1981 era and his logo often appears at the same time. However, the main reason Vargas created the Eddie Van Halen mural is more than just necklaces and logos. He admired the figure of Eddie as a whole.

This form of awe is also perpetuated in the process of creating a mural in which Vargas does not recruit anyone to be on his team. All done by hand - with no projections, lines, or tool assistance even within two weeks.

The choice of Guitar Center as the place for the mural to be attached is because it is located in the Sunset Strip, Hollywood - one of the places where Van Halen started his musical journey.

"If there was an Eddie Van Halen mural that was going to be put up here, I would be the one to make it. I wanted to do it bigger than life, like Eddie," Vargas said, according to Variety.

Eddie Van Halen is one of the greatest rock stars to have had a huge influence on the music industry. Van Halen's self-titled debut album was released in 1978 and topped the Billboard charts.

This is the most successful commercial debut in the rock music scene. That achievement added up until Van Halen won his first Grammy award in 1992.

Eddie Van Halen is known for his two-handed tapping game. His signature technique inspired guitarists in the era that followed.

“When it comes to his music, it's like he's come from another planet, but as a human being, he's connected. When we saw the mural, I thought it warmed our hearts,” said Jean-Claude Escudie, manager of Guitar Center Platinum.

In addition to the mural at the Guitar Center, there were a number of tributes given by fans to celebrate Eddie Van Halen's birthday. Eddie's handprints and memorabilia are also on display at Guitar Center.

Animator Thomas J. Yagodinski made a clip in which he combines Javanese characters from Star Wars playing Eddie Van Halen's Eruption.

Eddie Van Halen, born in 1955 in Amsterdam and raised in Pasadena, California. He formed Van Halen with his brother Alex, bassist Michael Anthony and singer David Lee Roth in 1974.

Van Halen started their career playing in West Hollywood clubs before exploding on the rock scene in 1978 with their self-titled debut album which sold more than 10 million copies.

The wave of hard rock that they brought successfully kicked disco off the top of the charts.

The group, one of the top 20 best-selling artists of all time, went on to tear the music world apart through multi-platinum albums for the fifth year in a row: Van Halen II (1979), Women and Children First (1980), Fair Warning (1981) , Diver Down (1982) and finally their greatest work, 1984.

The album includes the hits Jump, Panama and Hot for Teacher. Apart from the band, Eddie Van Halen also contributed a signature guitar solo to Michael Jackson's Beat It (1982).

Starting with a terrifying solo on the song Eruption from their debut album, Eddie Van Halen's signature acrobatic guitar playing cemented the band's appeal, earning them a reputation as one of the greatest rock bands of all time.

In an exclusive Eddie and Alex Van Halen interview with David Lee Roth in 2012, it was revealed that Eddie is descended from Rangkasbitung, Banten, Indonesia.

David, who was the interviewer, asked where they got their encouragement from when they were little to get into music, Eddie answered: their mother, Euginia. Then asked about the origin of the mother, Alex said, "Rangkasbitung".

A Different Kind Of Truth, released in 2012 was Van Halen's last album which also marked the return of David Lee Roth after previously Sammy Hagar and Gary Cherone (Extreme) were the band's second and third vocalists.

As a reunion album which also marked Wolfgang's debut as a bassist, you could say, not a single song from this album stuck in the listener's ears.

However, David Lee Roth's return to the band he left in 1994 has sent this album down the same path as the catalogs of its era. Explosive distorted sound.

The chemistry that exists between Eddie Van Halen and his son, Wolfgang, also sounds so solid, as if it gives the impression that Van Halen is a youth band. Tatto's debut single is the most perfect example.

With great pleasure, Eddie's dynamic and melodic guitar solo penetrated comfortably into the musical foundations of Wolfgang's execution and the pounding of his uncle, Alex's drums. Plus the rebellious lyrics, I consider this opening track the toughest on this album.

The tight rhythm section is also reflected in the Bullethead number, which roars loudly and fast like an express train. Meanwhile, the male riffs and Eddie's two-handed tapping technique often appear almost throughout the album. China Town, Blood And Fire, As As, Outta Space, and Big River stand tall with David's vocal character who is still sexy in his old age.

This album also only features a small portion of acoustic guitar, namely in the intro to a bluesy number entitled Stay Frosty. And at the very least, a number of tracks have taken our minds back to the early Van Halen era when synthesizers had not yet tainted their line-up of musical compositions.

Without diminishing respect for Sammy Hagar, through A Different Kind Of Truth, Van Halen has paid for the sins of memory in the past.