Eddie Van Halen memorial planned in Pasadena to honour late musician

A memorial to honour Van Halen guitarist Eddie Van Halen is being planned in Pasadena, where the group formed almost 50 years ago.

  • Read More: Eddie Van Halen, 1955 – 2020: a colossus who turned guitar solos into a firework display

The guitarist died on October 6 at the age of 65, following a lengthy battle with cancer. Many fans left tributes to Eddie at his childhood home in Pasadena and on a street called Allen Avenue where he and brother Alex scratched their band’s name into the sidewalk when they were teenagers.

The planned memorial is being discussed in a meeting on Monday (October 26). As reported on Blabbermouth, an agenda report for the meeting discusses a number of possible proposals for the memorial.

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The report said: “Since his passing, Pasadena has received several requests and suggestions from the community to do or name something in Van Halen’s [honour] to [recognise] both his local connection to Pasadena, as well as the impact that his artistry had on music.”

Sammy Hagar and Eddie Van Halen
Sammy Hagar and Eddie Van Halen performing live with Van Halen on August 26, 1986. (Picture: John Atashian/Getty Images)

It continued: “Given the band’s connection to Pasadena and the hometown pride expressed by its residents, several requests have been made to name a street, alley or other monument in his [honour].

“A strip of curb on North Allen near the Van Halen home on Las Lunas street has served as a make-shift memorial site since his passing, helping to prompt a broader discussion of a local memorial. Over the past week, staff has contemplated other potential sites for a memorial such as renaming of a street or alleyway or the placement of a public monument in an area associated with the late musician.”

The meeting of the council tomorrow will discuss what type of memorial will be most appropriate to honour the late musician.







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Earlier this week (October 23), it was revealed that Eddie once asked Ozzy Osbourne to join Van Halen. Van Halen and Black Sabbath toured together back in the ‘70s and, when paying tribute to the late guitarist earlier this month, Osbourne said every time he saw the star “it was fun”.

Speaking on the latest episode of his SiriusXM radio show Ozzy’s Boneyard, Osbourne said Van Halen had “phoned me up one time, asked me if I wanted to sing in his band”.

Osbourne was one of many who paid tribute to the musician, calling him “a force to be reckoned with”.

Osbourne added: “[I] could sit and watch Eddie Van Halen play guitar all day,” he said. “He’s so entertaining as a guitar player. He made it look like it was not difficult. He made it look like it was a natural thing. Everybody else was trying to be Eddie Van Halen, but there is only one Eddie Van Halen. I thought he was brilliant. God only knows, what you have to do to get that good.”

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