text: Eddie Van Halen plays the final chord of "Jump" during the Van Halen concert at the Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, N,.J on June 22, 2004. 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, died Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2020. Van Halen, who had battled cancer, was 65.