Eddie Van Halen, the legendary guitarist, and co-founder of Van Halen, has died after a long battle with cancer.
The beloved rockstar died at St. John's Hospital in Santa Monica Tuesday with his wife, Janie, his son, Wolfgang, his ex-wife Valerie Bertinelli, and his brother/drummer Alex all by his side.
Eddie's health problems went downhill after doctors discovered his lung cancer had moved to his brain as well as other organs. Eddie has been battling cancer for well over a decade and has been in and out of the hospital over the past year.
Though he was a heavy smoker for years, Eddie believes he developed throat cancer from a metal guitar pick he frequently held in his mouth more than 20 years ago.
According to FoxNews
Legendary rock guitarist, Eddie Van Halen, has died. He was 65.
Van Halen's son, Wolf, confirmed the news on Tuesday.
"I can't believe I'm having to write this, but my father, Edward Lodewijk Van Halen, has lost his long and arduous battle with cancer this morning," he wrote on Twitter.
"He was the best father I could ever ask for. Every moment I've shared with him on stage and off stage was a gift," Wolf continued. "My heart is broken and I don't think I'll ever fully recover from this loss."
“I used metal picks -- they’re brass and copper -- which I always held in my mouth, in the exact place where I got the tongue cancer,” he said at the time. “Plus, I basically live in a recording studio that’s filled with electromagnetic energy. So that’s one theory. I mean, I was smoking and doing a lot of drugs and a lot of everything. But at the same time, my lungs are totally clear. This is just my own theory, but the doctors say it’s possible.”
