Rock icon and guitar legend Eddie Van Halen of the popular rock band Van Halen passed away on Tuesday October 6, 2020 after losing a long battle with cancer that started back in 2000.
In a 2015 interview with Billboard he spoke of his past history with smoking and drug use, but speculated that metal guitar picks were to blame for his mouth cancer. Van Halen said, “I used metal picks ― they’re brass and copper ― which I always held in my mouth, in the exact place where I got the tongue cancer.” Another theory he said, “Plus, I basically live in a recording studio that’s filled with electromagnetic energy. So that’s one theory. I mean, I was smoking and doing a lot of drugs and a lot of everything. But at the same time, my lungs are totally clear. This is just my own theory, but the doctors say it’s possible.”
His son Wolfgang Van Halen posted this message on Twitter Tuesday.