#Rock Hall 2020: Eddie Van Halen Honored by Slash, Tom Morello, Kirk Hammett

The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame 2020 Induction Ceremony is broadcasting tonight on HBO. The in memoriam segment featured a tribute to the late guitar virtuoso Eddie Van Halen, who died on October 6 following a battle with throat cancer. Slash, Metallica’s Kirk Hammett, and Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello made appearances during the special to pay their respects. Watch it on HBO Max.

“Eddie Van Halen was a tremendously gifted musician. His style and his sound were completely unique to him,” said Slash. “He had a massive impact on guitar playing, and I don’t think there’s anybody that’s picked up the guitar since 1978 that hasn’t been touched in some way by his influence. I’m gonna miss his playing and I’m gonna miss him as a friend.”

Hammett called attention to Van Halen’s signature techniques (“He just explored the most simplest thing—a harmonic on a string—and brought it into this realm of technique that no one even thought was possible”), while Morello called him “the Mozart of our generation.”

“He had the kind of talent that maybe comes around once a century,” Morello said. “Eddie Van Halen inspired me to practice 20,000 hours to try to get within 100,000 miles of his inspired mastery of the electric guitar.”

Van Halen was among several other heavy-hitters honored in this year’s In Memoriam segment, which included nods to Little Richard, Bill Withers, Neil Peart, John Prine, Ginger Baker, Ric Ocasek, Dr. John, Kenny Rogers, Charlie Daniels, and several others. Bushwick Bill, Pop Smoke, and Juice WRLD were also included in the reel.

Read “Eddie Van Halen Changed the Rules of the Game” over on the Pitch.