October 6, 2020, Eddie Van Halen died. Unbeknownst to me he had been battling throat cancer for some time. To me, Van Halen was a supergroup! I was in my 20’s, early 30’s when they came on the scene. What stood out from the onset was Eddie Van Halen’s talent as a guitar player. As previously said, a whaling lead guitar is what draws me to an artist. I remember reading or seeing in an interview that Eddie Van Halen watched Jimmy Page so intensely as to mimic his performance and elaborate and take it even further. Of course that struck a chord with me as Jimmy Page was my guitar hero.
My son was born in 1980 and throughout his young life Eddie was his first guitar hero. From playing his first plastic electric guitar and throughout his life and guitar lessons, Eddie Van Halen has been a major influence on him. His talent and innovation stands alone. I remember when he married Valerie Bertonelli. I thought they looked like the cutest couple!
I did finally get to see Van Halen in concert when they reunited with David Lee Roth. His son, Wolfgang, was touring with him. No need to say what a great concert it was. To me, Van Halen is only Van Halen with David Lee Roth on the vocals. He is the ultimate showman, he has a great voice, and great moves. I wouldn’t have gone if Sammy Hagar was on vocals, nothing against him,
Tomorrow, October 9, 2020, John Lennon would have been 80 years old. God bless his soul. I disagree with wishing dead people happy birthday. It is the day they were born, yes a “birth day.” He is not around to wish a “happy birthday” to. I will always remember him on this day and unfortunately the day he was gunned down. I often wonder what he would have said about 9/11 and the politics of today. I believe he would still be fighting for equal rights, peace and love. “Imagine” is such a statement, no matter what year and what the world is going through. People look down on idealism, but I truly believe it is a goal humanity should be trying to achieve.
Yesterday, two terrorists were extradited from England to the United States to go on trial for the deaths of 4 Americans. Two aid workers and two journalists, tortured and killed by these men. This is a good thing, a great thing.
For a reason as stupid as “because they had British accents,” they have been nicknamed The Beatles!!!!!! This morning I learned that they were given the names, Ringo and George! STOP IT RIGHT NOW! How absurd and wrong. There is a whole country who speak with British accents, name them after someone else, or better yet, refer to them as the murdering terrorists they are. There is no comparison with The Beatles or Ringo and George.