Slash Leads Tribute To Eddie Van Halen At Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame

Tom Morello Called EVH “The Mozart of Our Generation”

Three iconic rock guitarists paid tribute to guitar god Eddie Van Halen during the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony last Saturday. Guns N’ Roses’ Slash, Metallica’s Kirk Hammett and Rage Against The Machine’s Tom Morello shared powerful speeches while EVH’s archival footage was shown on the screen.

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

Hammett called EVH “amazing” and added that “Not since Jimi Hendrix had there been a guitar player that had so much impact and was so inspiring to me. 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. He was from a different planet.”

Morello, for his part, described EVH as “the Mozart of our generation” and shared that the late rock legend “had the kind of talent that maybe comes around once a century. Eddie Van Halen inspired me to practice 20,000 hours to try to get within 100 miles of his inspired mastery of the guitar.”

Eddie Van Halen passed away last month at the age of 65 following a battle with throat cancer. The 2020 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame was supposed to take place in May but had to be moved because of the pandemic.