There are many great guitarist throughout history but there will only ever be one Eddie Van Halen.

The guitarist (Eddie Van Halen) played an unpaid, initially uncredited solo on one of the biggest pop songs of all time: Michael Jackson's "Beat It."

When Eddie Van Halen plays a solo, the guitar smokes a cigarette afterwards

The moment you realize that your parents/ grandparents music is way cooler than yours! Not to mention genuine talent 😉

This is one of the best guitar solos i have ever heard. The things he did to the guitar to make those sounds was amazing RIP Eddie

You must understand now, what he meant to my generation. This is why my whole generation wept openly when he died. He changed that entire way the guitar is played. He also changed the way guitars were made. Fender and Gibson asked him to help them redesign them. He did it so well that no one would even try to emulate him. Being in the audience to witness his genius was a life changing event to me. I see that you enjoyed this a lot so I will share my favorite interview Eddie did. Don’t let what you see overwhelm you. Genius is never what you’ve seen before. You see the guitar he is playing, he built himself. He could not afford the costly sound equipment to make this music. So he built it to emulate those sounds. He named the guitar Frankenstrat because it was put together from so many piece of other guitars. The paint you commented on is his own design. It now hangs in the Smithsonian. Yes it had a built in cigarette holder. Also, taped to the front are a bunch of guitar picks. He throws them to the audience and just grabs another off the guitar. The style is known as taping and he didn’t invent it but he did turn it into an art form. Guitar masters in rock music learned from Eddie. Below I’ve shared the interview he did about his life, his family (his brother Alex is the drummer in Van Halen), building Frankenstrat and growing into this icon of rock music. Humble and charming. I can tell you his story but you need to hear it from Eddie. This interview was with a rep from the Smithsonian. The best thing about seeing him perform is his smile. That man is never more happy than when he is playing that guitar. Ironically it was one of the things that lead to his cancer in his mouth. He used metal picks and in between songs he would hold it in his mouth. He did not know those picks had toxic level of lead in them. The tumor appeared in the spot he held the pick. And the 2 packs + a day cigarette habit did not help. The alcohol began as a way to calm the stage fright but grew with the addition of other chemicals. Never hurt his performance but it shortened his life. In the interview I posted, Eddie was finally clean, cancer in remission and a happy proud dad and brother. It’s a good interview. I wept for days when he died. So many heroes of my generation are gone. I just am so sad. His angelic genius will be missed. Interview = kzfaq.info/get/bejne/r8hiaadpx6i-cmw.html.

Van Halen transcended the way a guitar was played and sounded during the eighties.

I can’t help but chuckle at the shock over the cigarette stuck in the guitar it was so common back in the day. While Eddie was modest and humble about everything, for me he epitomizes the rockstar.

When they released their first record in 1978 , it was Eddies tone that grabbed ya.

The guitar is Frankenstein, Eddie made it from pieces of other guitars. Your face is in awe, yes he's tapping.😂😂😂

I wish I was there live in that crowd, front row to witness that 🔥🙌

Your faces are priceless😉 he was so amazing!! I won a giant red blow up guitar at a carnival, took it home and taped it up like Eddie's and display it proudly like a real guitar🤣 Saw this, someone reacting to Neil Peart on drums... it hurts my heart that we lost such greats, but thankful I saw them live & will NEVER forget the talent & love! ✌❤

The master of "tapping"!! There will never be another Eddie!! RIP Eddie...gone too soon🎶🎸🎵🎸💙 Eddie built that guitar!!🎶🎸

I was FLABBERGASTED when I saw this , in concert, in Billings Montana.Slaughte opened for them. But to see and hear Panama, Jump, and Running with the Devil, was pretty Awesome! Until Eddie got up and did “ Eruption”! To hear this in real life was NOT REAL! Um a forever ACDC FAN. Angus was my ultimate guitar Hero. But what Eddie did that night forever altered the way I viewed how a guitar could be played. To say he was the GOAT, just doesn’t cover that man’s ability to make a guitar talk. It was a symphony of sound that stayed with me to this day!! RIP EDDIE VAN HALEN.

Eddie is a magician with a guitar... Don't try to decipher or wonder how, just absorb and enjoy the beauty 😁

On the Monsters of Rock tour in 1989(?), my buddy and I were front row. During a solo, while we were just STARING in awe, Eddie looked RIGHT AT US and SMILED.

You asked the same exact question everyone else has and does for the past 40+ years, "How the hell does he do that?" Many have tried and many have failed. Also, the numbers on his guitar was 5150. It is the police code for a mentally disturbed person. It is also the name of the album they were touring on at that time of the video and it is also the name of Eddie's studio at his house.

Eddie built his guitars. He was a mad scientist on that shit. A true genius in every way.

Might be your best reaction yet. The awe on your face looked so real. RIP Eddie Van Halen.

Saw him do this live, years before this video was ever shot. Un-effing-believable!! I didn’t know guitars could make these sounds before I heard this

I call the second section of this solo "the horror film" section. It's done by pulling the springs on his whammy bar setup. Guitars with a whammy bar have springs in the back that let the bar manipulate the string tension. If you pull them it makes that eerie sound. Then he plucks the strings up by the tuning pegs to get those creepy high pitched sounds. Makes it sound like the sound effects of an 80's/90's horror film. Eddie had a LOT of tricks in his bag for unique sounds he could intertwine into his music. Hell the man used a power drill on the intro to their song Poundcake for example lol.

Ok im about to school you in this so it will be long. Eddie van halen was the innovator of the guitar. On the 1978 album he had a solo called eruption and when it came out every guitar player in the world never knew what hit them when he came out with the tapping section, it was something new and left jaws dropped open. EVH was a guitar hero to every guitar player in the 80s including me but it didn't stop there he kepted on reinnovating it with harmonics by tapping and his dive bombs and unique phrasing on his chord progressions. His guitar is made up of different parts of many guitars, pickups , necks, electronics and so therefore came the name of his guitar called Frankenstein or aka Frankenstrat. Eddie paved the way of the superstrat that became very popular in the 80s and 90s. The floyd rose bridge was created for him and also he pattened many thungs such as the D-tuna and his own guitar straps. His guitars started out as white with black stripes and then moved the white black and red gutar which is the same guitar just painted throughout the years ( you can google evh striped). All the things you just heard are all his solos from every album since they started "eruption" "Spanish fly " "cathedral" and the intro to Mean street in which in this case he extended it for the solo spot live. In the early 90s he came out with his own line of amps known as the 5150 series and is still in production to this day with many different series, eddie was always chasing sound in his guitars and amps and in the mid 90s he came out with his signature guitar line called the Wolfgang ,named after his son, and is still in production today even after his passing. There is plenty more about him but I'd be here forever if were to continue. Please do some research with more vids and google. You'd be surprised how much he did with this unconquerable instrument

Your face says it all. I love when the people I follow react to this, those are just random stripes on the guitar that he built on his own. He revolutionized playing guitar. Forget sheet music, there's instructions on learning his style. RIP GOAT

He was definitely a one of a kind 🎸🤘R.I.P. Mr. Van Halen 🙏.........can you just imagine the jam session in heaven?

That tapping is essentially the same way a piano works. You hit a key, a pad goes and hammers on a string. Guitar is a stringed and a percussion instrument. If you only play it one way, it's only going to sound one way. Eddie redefined that thought process for a lot of future guitarists.

I feel like if just heard a full blown concert from one man and a guitar.

You just witnessed the greatest rock guitarist to ever grace the stage. Listen up kids, you can develop some talent yourself if you just replace the cell phone in your hand with an instrument.

This is the genius of Eddie Van Halen! Some people build bridges, others walk over them. Eddie built bridges!

Hermonics from loften rush Eddie loved loften from rush. Eddie incorporated Hammond with classical scales slides destoration reverberation mostly, all combinations he demonstrated here. They flew out of the 70's along with rush, Eddie looked up to Lofton and used those hermonics and slides, he added his own hammonrods to them, plus sytezisers in Jump, He wanted to keep up with Rush, they both were equals but Val Halen got popularity Rush became the Icon.

Eddie was unbelievable! I only saw him 4 times, first in the late 70s. I instantly fell in love. When you hear it you know it’s Eddie. This is what so many people missed out on and now he’s gone. It’s a huge loss!

Im 55 and I`ve seen many of the guitar greats! Only Eddie Van Halen, the 3 times that I seen this live, Has completely and thoroughly blew me away! EVH is The King!

That’s just complete mastery of the instrument. To the point where him and the guitar are one and the same.

The drummer is his brother. History of the band, original singer was David Lee Roth, then Sammy Hagar became the singer during the time of the video you are watching. BOTH singers made some massive hits with the band, but the original singer lays claim to the classic hits that will live forever. JUMP, HOT FOR TEACHER, AIN’T TALKING BOUT LOVE, RUNNIN WITH THE DEVIL, etc.

Guitarists are all very different. The best of the bunch bring along with technique their own flair and style. For that reason it is sometimes a challenge in futility to rate guitarists. However, Eddie consistently falls into at most the top 5, usually top 3 and often #1. There are a lot of reasons for this and as hard as it may seem to believe, technique isn't the top reason. Eddie didn't invent tapping, but he did elevate it to heights that other musicians have spent the past 40+ years aspiring to duplicate. Whenever you listen to Eddie play, just know that most of what you hear was literally created by this man. He built his own guitars, constructed a specific sound (brown sound) which, I can't really even wrap my brain around...like how do you create a sound? He was an innovator and inventor. He's got actual patents on things he created for the guitar. On top of that, when you consider his contribution to music, not just in all of the innovation, but the sheer amount of composition, it's easy to understand why he's #1 on so many lists. Van Halen had a decades long run making music and I don't even know how many hundreds of fire guitar solos and riffs are included in that time span..a LOT. In fact, this solo is actually a compilation of many of Van Halen's most well known riffs. The solo part of it is from a song called Eruption, which began as a 2 minute finger exercise. Can you imagine that?? What this dude calls a finger exercise turns out to be one of the nastiest and most famous guitar solos ever created. Yeah, that's Eddie for you in a nutshell. A giant in music, a legendary rock star, and yet kind and humble and full of joy when he strapped on his guitars! He was very special and will always be missed. RIP to a true genius and nice guy. Oh, and btw, he was also a classically trained pianist. You absolutely need to dive into some Van Halen. The entire band are no joke. His brother on drums is one of the absolute best.

One of the best to ever do it Rest In Peace Eddie

I got to see these guys live back in the early 90's. Alice In Chains opened for them. Michael Anthony, the bass player did a very impressive bass solo as well. The guy on drums is Eddie's brother, Alex. RIP Eddie. You were and still are loved!

My man, I've been playing guitar for ten years and I still have no idea how he did half the things he did. The dude was a certified legend.

Eddie is to Guitar as Neil Peart is to percussion. Your face was priceless .....great reaction...and yes. I have seen it....several times live.

I was in college up in Michigan when VH 1 came out. A bunch of us were under the influence when one of my roomies said, " you need to listen to this guitar solo, you've never heard anything like it." ....and there you had it, 1:43 of sonic music that forever changed the guitar world, cranked through a high wattage Kenwood receiver with JBL speakers. I swear, one of my roomies who was a guitarist, literally dropped his beer on the floor, he couldn't believe what he was hearing. We bought tickets to see them live on their 1st concert tour with Montrose and Journey...they played that entire 1st LP from start to finish....Mr. EVH...the GOAT.

It's the GOAT! 9:20 he was rocking the volume knob in time with the echo effect. Insane.

I was at this concerts (both) in New Haven CT. Wow....they were awesome. Everytime I saw Van Halen they put on a great show. Watching EVH was magic.

so many amazing Guitarists- BB king- eddie- randy rhodes- Ingva it goes on. such amazing talent- we are blessed.

He actually just started taping his guitar one day and that’s what he got, is still today one of the most famous guitar designs. He created things for the guitar as well. Pure rock legend and thankful I got to see him do this live a few times. RIP EVH

This might be the GREATEST REACTION EVER!!! The look on your face during this solo was like you were watching an ALIEN. Too funny!!!

Still miss Eddie so fkn much. Never ever will the world see another guitarist better than him. For someone that never had a guitar lesson, couldn't read sheet music, built his own guitars, and changed guitar playing forever is a very special, unique, extraordinary talented person indeed. The absolute fkn GOAT. R.I.P. Eddie, sadly missed but never ever forgotten.

How does he do that? The short answer: A souped up guitar, a lot of pedal effects, and a lot of practice. He was no Superman, he just loved what he did and put in the time and effort to be really great at it.

Yep he is tapping! He was absolutely amazing!

Can you hear how he makes his guitar sound like other instruments? A harpsichord, an organ, a violin, chimes, a synthesizer, an Australian/Aboriginal wind instrument I can't remember the name of that makes that super low, bass sound, a harp - it's beyond amazing, truly!

You were witnessing the greatest innovator of modern guitar playing in that segment of there 1986 tour, those were pieces of music from a few albums that EVH created over the years to showcase his musical talent and passion for guitar 🎸 R.I.P EVH ❤

Eddie Van Halen is the very guitar who perfected the guitar tapping technique. He's on a different level, a level of his own and he's a true Rock legend in his own right. When comes to Eddie Van Halen and his god-like guitar skills, you cannot help but stand in awe. *In AWE!*

Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Chuck Berry, Jeff Beck, BB King, Eddie Van Halen, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Keith Richards, Roy Clark, and more, there’s no right order to say who’s number one, whatever style you like. The older guitarist didn’t have the new technology, and the newer guitarist learned from the older ones.

You will never see another like him. Godspeed, Eddie.

Years and years of practicing and playing, his guitar was part of his soul, he always had a guitar in his hand, he probably felt naked without it!

It is so fun to watch peoples facial expressions as there brain tries to process it all . Eddie was the first at many new things and a true legend and KING of the hammer ons . I was lucky enough to catch Van Halen twice live in the 80,s and they were SO good ! Just awesome to see younger generations discover this man and his many talents .. RIP Eddie you will be missed Sir ! Great reaction !

This is called "perfecting your craft"! Whatever that craft is, if you wanna be the best, commit to it, FULLY! Rockstar, painter, teacher, machinist, welder, pianist, Whatever! Find what you love & are good at, & COMMIT! Study it, question it, try it, fail, try it again, fail, try it again, grow, learn! Nothing is ever perfect out the gate! This right here, is YEARS of TRYING! until it all fell into place

Saw them 3X in Concert. It was Memorable.

Totally the reaction I was expecting. The looks on your face said it all.

Van Halen literally just showing off that he was a god and magician on guitar!! So many different techniques and styles he demonstrated and master of them all!!

Im 62 and I grew up in this generation - Eddie Van Halen was one of the most bad ass guitar players on the friggin' planet - I still have my album of their very first release LP, in fact I have two copies cause I played the first one so much I had to put it away - after than I made a cassette of the album and saved the new copy, it was only played twice I think, once the day I brought it home to check it for defects then once to copy it onto a CD later. RIP E.V.H.

He’s possessed !!! IN THE BEST WAY POSSIBLE 🔥🔥. He’s THE master!! Now you know!! Bravo for the reaction! You made me a fan. I’m in!

when you ask at around 9;15 how's he doing this. He's making sounds by striking the guitar in unconventional areas like the back of the neck, the strings above the neck and cables in a cavity at the back of the guitar that he pulls. He was a genius mad scientist of the guitar, constantly experimenting to create all kinds of sound. I must say, as a guitarist of color who grew up in the 1980's and was inspired by Eddie, who is my all time favorite musician, i truly enjoy seeing so many people of color be just as excited and amazed as I was over forty years ago when I used to wear out my VHS copy of the Van Halen: Live Without a Net concert from which this, Eddie's guitar solo, comes (the You Tube title EVH Eruption Reaction title is actually incorrect, as this is a solo form a concert, not the solo as recorded on the first VH album, though it is incorporated within this solo).

Eddie was amazing, inspired a generation and more. (Guitar player here and as a kid I went to this show). As for how he does the Cathedral part (9-10minute mark) it's really tricky but cool...watch his right hand on the volume knob. He hammers the note using his left hand while the volume knob is off then he quickly turns the volume up, then back for the next note. It leaves out the initial thump of the note. With a delay pedal (and lots of reverb) he times the repeat of the delay and whhaa laaa you have this awesome sound.

You'll NEVER be the same after watching this solo! You need to have your girl watching this too! She'd be blown away and mesmorized!!

The sweetest smile in rock and roll played the audience as well as he played the guitar.

The guitar he is playing he made from old guitar bodies. He called it the "Frankenstrat". The look of the guitar was achieved by masking with tape numerous times and painting between masking's.

that is the frankenstrat he hand made his guitars

Eddie was the man. He brought tapping from classical guitar over to rock and made a one of a kind signature sound that many try to master today. Thank you for your reaction. Eddie was the best RIP EVH. His brother was the Drummer of Van Halen I will send you a video of him soon. Thanks again Brandon from TN.

Eddie is at the top of the greatest guitarists of all time. Stevie Ray Vaughn is right there, and Jeff Healey in my opinion. Eddie and that eruption solo is mind blowing, and legendary. Just Amazing!

I was at this show in Connecticut in 1986. All I have to say kid, he's the greatest guitarist of my generation, period. Seen him 15 times live. You need to watch videos from 1978 live shows. He's even better

My mom was blessed enough to see him twice live during his process, absolute unit of a musician

I was never into their music but respected the band. Their songs are catchy as hell. I’m glad someone showed me how much of a guitar god Eddie was. There is no denying that. I’m a metal head at heart and Eddie is my number one guitarist ever. Just imagine if he was in the metal genre! RIP Eddie!!!

There is a reason he was introduced as "The World's best Rock and Roll guitarist".

We were blessed with a few great guitarist all at the same time and he was one of them I could never pick a favourite just enjoyed them all.

I got the pleasure of watching Eddie perform this twice,once in 1984 and again in 2007.It was Amazing! Keep On Rockin'

Our generation was SO blessed to have had Eddie. There are no adequate words to describe the experience of him and Van Halen as they were happening. We knew then that he was special. We knew that he was a historic figure for music. But, in those moments of youthful exuberance when life seems long, and the future so distant, we couldn't know just how rare he was and how privileged we were to be there for it.

I’ll never forget when my brother and I got into Van Halen. We were at a dance and the dj played Beat It by MJ and when the solo hit we knew immediately it was Eddie. That sound, vibe and classic whammy bar dive gave it away. Timeless stuff.

When he we works those hammer-ons with the volume knob, and couples it with that slapback echo...it is just stone cold!

pure artistic genius, and a lifetime devoted to his craft. It never gets old

Fyi...the numbers on the guitar are 5150....the name of one of Van Halen's albums. The album was named after Eddie Van Halen's home studio, 5150, in turn named after a California law enforcement term for a mentally disturbed person (a reference to Section 5150 of the California Welfare and Institutions Code). 😂😬

I was at this concert August 27 1986 New Haven Coliseum in New Haven Connecticut!! This was absolutely awesome! This was amazing so freaking loud. I had great seats close to Eddie.

I got to see that live two times back then and its always impressive. RIP Eddie❤❤

Technically this isn’t just “Eruption” but a collection of guitar solos or interludes from VH albums. An extended version of Eruption is first, the second is “Cathedral” which has the chorus and delay sound with Eddie raising and lowering the volume knob with his right hand and finally an extended variation of “Spanish Fly”.

I remember correctly that Eddie has his son, Wolfgang Van Halen's Birthday - 3 16 on his guitars. He has also Wolfgang series of guitars and bass guitars or Wolfgang has it now with his mother, I think or Eddie has Wolfgang full control of his interest including 5150 Recording Studio.

Actually saw Van Halen with David Lee Roth in a back yard when I was in Highschool. Right before they released their first album!!!

I believe he was the world's. Top. Guitarists 🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸👍🎶🎶🎶🎶

He was playing on a guitar that he built. FRANKENSTRAT. Can you imagine growing up in the neighborhood with Eddie and his brother Alex on the drums, while they were learning their craft? Best neighborhood ever.

Strings are highly amplified on an electric. The pick-ups (they pick up the sound, the structures under where the open part of the strings are) pick up finger tapping as well. He can make sounds by tapping because of that, it just creates a different sound than the pick in left hand would. The thing he does where he hammers his finger down is called a "hammer-on", a slightly different thing than tapping or double hand tapping. When he wanted to do any of that, he would either tuck the pick into the knuckle of his middle finger and then switch back to it w/ his index&thumb or he would put the pick on a spot on his tongue and then take it out quickly when he needed it. -- You can also use your fingernail on the open section of the strings in a tight spot, but it makes a less plingy sound than a pick does. Eddie had to use his thumbnail as a substitute pick when the piece he did required him to be quicker than he could be when he had the pick on his tongue. I've rarely seen him do it, tho. He did all that stuff thousands of times, so it was 2nd nature for him. Incidentally, he lost 1/3rd of his tongue to oral cancer a number of years before his death and it was the spot where he would put a metal pick on for decades. He was convinced that was not accidental and I tend to believe that it probably had something to do with it. The combo of chainsmoking for decades plus a metal pick could've made that spot extra sensitive due to transferring electrons or some kinda sciency stuff.

Now imagine being a teenager and hearing this in the 80's, I don't know either. It would take an advanced Physics PHD to explain how it works and sounds, JUST ENJOY IT!

Eddie, the sound of my youth RIP. One of the few musicians that ever affected me when he passed.

Some of the sounds he made in this solo sounds extra terrestrial to me! ♥️

The numbers are for the frets. Some guitars are customized to have numbers. Some guitarists especially beginners like these so they know where their hands are. 2 of the greatest guitar solos were played by the late Eddie van Halen. This 1, written by the classic Van Halen, and Beat It, written by the late Michael Jackson and solo created by EVH. He influenced a boatload of great guitarists. Joe Satriani + many other great guitarists had their WTF moment when they heard the studio 🎙 version of this. Neal Schon was lucky enough to have Van Halen open for Journey. He even influenced me...although I surrendered 😥 my dream of being a lead guitarist. L🤣L Rhythm guitar is more of my thing. And I am way better as a piano player 🎹 and singer. 👨‍🎤 Suggested next video 📹 Unchained. RIP Eddie van Halen. He and drummer Neil Peart gone in the same year. Now playing together in The Afterlife. ☁️ 🌤

The looks on your face were priceless. I had the same looks back in '86 when this came out.

I’ve watched this solo numerous times and I am still in awe of how he was able to do what he did. The tinkering and hours and hours of practice he did to perfect the sound. The legend of EVH will live on forever. Just like Hendrix and others who are passed on.

Playing the guitar by tapping requires a lot of amplification. In other words, CRANK IT! The added volume also helps the guitar sustain the notes longer because the sound from the speakers makes the strings vibrate more and longer (called "sympathetic vibration"). The distortion on the guitar also helps the sustain. A clean guitar sound wouldn't sustain as long. Eddie was a master at this style. He also played lead guitar on Michael Jackson's song "Beat It".

When Ed did the solo for Michael Jackson's Beat It , I think he brought his modded Marshall amp . After hooking it up to the studio equipment and he started playing , the studio equipment actually caught fire . And yes he was paid in I think Coors beer . Other than that it was for free . He also endorsed Kramer Guitars for free . If they paid him they would have to increase the price of their guitars . 5150 is police code supposed to mean mentally unstable BUT harmless . The guitar he's playing was one of many 5150 Kramer Guitars he painted himself at the Kramer factory . He made them for either the Diver Down or 1984 tour . His two-hand tapping technique he called hammer-ons . He never claimed to invent it but he never said where he picked the idea up . He claimed he got the idea after seeing Jimmy Page in concert using a violin bow . By the way this isn't his best solo . There's many others on KZfaq . My favorite is his US Festival show solo .

Eddie Van Halen was a virtuoso on the electric guitars, he also did a great job playing the keyboards! His brother Alex Van Halen is a virtuoso on the drums!

Growing up watching Eddie..We couldn't believe it either..Thanks

He also plays piano which I’m sure helped with the learning of the tapping method

I'm sure I felt like you do now back in 1978 when Eruption came out. The undeniable greatness of Edward Van Halen. This will be just as impressive after you've seen it 100 times.

Having a smoke stashed in the guitar neck was common back in the day, you see this live...it's awesome to be in a place where 20,000 shake the roof off.