Six years ago today, we lost Eddie Van Halen.

He died on October 6, 2020, at 65, after a long battle with cancer. Eddie and his brother Alex started Van Halen in Pasadena in 1972. Six years later, "Eruption" changed what a guitar could do. The two-handed tapping, the homemade Frankenstrat, the brown sound. A whole generation picked up a guitar because of him. He gave us "Runnin' with the Devil," "Panama," "Jump," "Hot for Teacher," and the solo on Michael Jackson's "Beat It." Van Halen went into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007. The greatest of all time. Rest in peace, Eddie.

Photo: Abby Gillardi