Eddie Van Halen, legendary rock guitarist, dead at 65

One of rock 'n' roll's singular and most gifted guitarists, Eddie Van Halen, has died. He was 65. Van Halen's son, Wolf, confirmed the news on Tuesday. "I can't believe I'm having to write this, but my father, Edward Lodewijk Van Halen, has lost his long and arduous battle with cancer this morning," he wrote on Twitter. "He was the best father I could ever ask for. Every moment I've shared with him on stage and off stage was a gift," Wolf continued. "My heart is broken and I don't think I'll ever fully recover from this loss." "I love you so much, Pop," he concluded. According to TMZ, citing sources, Van Halen died at a Santa Monica hospital on Tuesday. Wolf, his brother Alex, and his wife, Janie, were by his side. Van Halen told Billboard magazine in 2015 that he had one-third of his tongue removed due to cancer that had also spread to his esophagus. “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,” he said at the time. “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.”