Eddie Van Halen: Pioneering guitarist who gave his name to one of the world’s most electrifying bands
msn.comwho has died of cancer aged 65, was a leading pioneer of rock guitar playing in the post-Jimi Hendrix era – and gave his name to one of the world’s most energetic and exciting hard rock bands.After Van Halen’s formation in the mid-1970s, he provided the driving force behind the extrovert stage antics of original frontman David Lee Roth – and became famous for popularising the technique of “two-hand tapping”, using both on the fretboard of his instrument.The Dutch-born guitarist was influenced by seeing the “reckless abandon” of Jimmy Page performing a solo on Led Zeppelin’s song “Heartbreaker” – and said the result helped to make his own band sound like “Godzilla waking up” as it mixed hard rock and heavy metal.An early example of the style.
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