Van Halen was the music of my high school parking lot.
I tend to say that as a pejorative, but that’s really me trying to be cool, and distancing myself from the awkward kid we all were at one point. I loved Van Halen, just as anyone who grew up in the 80s did. My neighbor had a poster of Eddie on his wall, and he was just so cool and larger than life. A real guitar god.
Eddie’s death hit me more than I thought it would. He has retreated from the public eye, and there had been rumors for years that he wasn’t doing well, but still, when the news hit, it was like a piece of me died.