Eddie Van Halen passes away: Robert Downey Jr to Lenny Kravitz, Tommy Lee and other Hollywood stars pay tribute to the Rock legend

Eddie Van Halen, the guitar virtuoso whose blinding speed, control and innovation propelled his band Van Halen into one of hard rock's biggest groups and became elevated to the status of a rock god, has passed away. He was 65.
A person close to Van Halen's family confirmed the rocker’s demise due to cancer. The person was not authorised to publicly release details in advance of an official announcement.
"He was the best father I could ask for," Van Halen's son Wolfgang wrote in a social media post."Every moment I've shared with him on and off stage was a gift."

"I'm so grateful Wolfie and I were able to hold you in your last moments," Valerie Bertinelli wrote on Instagram, showing an image of their baby son. "I will see you in our next life."

Tributes poured in from fans, friends and film stars, who took to their social media handles to honour his memory and offer the family their condolences. Hollywood stars including Robert Downey Jr, Lenny Kravitz, Gene Simmons, Tommy Lee, David Lee Roth, Kevin Smith and many others took to social media to bid the legend goodbye.





"You changed our world. You were the Mozart of rock guitar. Travel safe, rockstar," Motley Crue's Nikki Sixx said on Twitter.
Added Lenny Kravitz: "Heaven will be electric tonight."
With his distinct solos, Eddie Van Halen fuelled the ultimate California party band and helped knock disco off the charts starting in the late 1970s with his band's self-titled debut album and then with the blockbuster record ‘1984’, which contains the classics ‘Jump’, ‘Panama’ and ‘Hot for Teacher’.
Van Halen is among the top 20 best-selling artists of all time, and the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007. Rolling Stone magazine put Eddie Van Halen at No. 8 in its list of the 100 greatest guitarists.