Watch The Ohio State Athletic Band pay emotional tribute to Van Halen

The Ohio State Athletic Band has paid an emotional tribute to Van Halen during a game last week.

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

The Athletic Band paid tribute to Van Halen during their annual half time show at Ohio Stadium in Columba on Saturday (April 16).

Van Halen died from throat cancer on October 6, 2020. Tributes from members of AC/DC, KISS, Muse and Pearl Jam among many others, poured in following news of his passing.

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The band played a medley of Van Halen songs over eight minutes that included ‘Runnin’ With The Devil,’ ‘Dreams,’ ‘Panama,’ and ‘Jump.’

The group moved in formation to spell out the band’s name as they performed, as well as the titles of some songs.

An audience of 60,000 were in attendance, with the game resulting in a 34-26 victory by the Ohio State Scarlet over the Ohio State Gray.

Watch the moment here:

Last week, former Metallica guitarist Jason Newsted has said he was approached six months ago to take part in a potential Van Halen tribute tour.

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He went on to reveal that acclaimed guitarist Joe Satriani was also approached to take part.

Speaking to The Palm Beach Post, Newsted said he went to California for a jam session, but didn’t go ahead with the project when thinking about the weight of Van Halen’s legacy.

“How could you?” Newsted said to the publication. “There’s nobody that can top it, so how do you show it honour? I didn’t want it to be viewed as a money grab. And then it kind of just all fizzled.”

A tribute band or tour to Van Halen has been touted for some time. Eddie’s son, Wolfgang Van Halen, has previously said that a tribute concert “definitely should happen” but that it was “not in the immediate plans” due to logistical hurdles.







Back in October, Wolfgang Van Halen marked the one-year anniversary of his father’s death with a moving written tribute.

“I’m not OK. I don’t think I’ll ever be OK,” he wrote in the tribute, which was shared on social media. “There’s so much I wish I could show you. So many things I wish I could share with you. I wish I could laugh with you again. I wish I could hug you again. I miss you so much it hurts. I love you with all of me heart, Pop. Watch over me.”