Edward Lodewijk Van Halen ( van HAY-lən, Dutch: [ˈɛtʋɑrt ˈloːdəʋɛik fɑn ˈɦaːlə(n)]; January 26, 1955 – October 6, 2020) was an American musician. He was the guitarist, keyboardist, backing vocalist and one of the primary songwriters of the rock band Van Halen, which he founded with his brother Alex Van Halen in 1972.
Van Halen is widely regarded as one of the greatest guitarists in rock history, and was well-known for popularizing the tapping guitar technique, allowing rapid arpeggios to be played with two hands on the fretboard.
