The famous guitarist and co-founder of Van Halen has sadly died following a lengthy battle with throat cancer. His health reportedly had taken a dramatic decline over the last few days with doctors discovering that his cancer had spread to further organs, TMZ reports. 

Eddie’s son, Wolfgang Van Halen shared the devastating news of his father's passing on Twitter earlier this evening. 

“I can’t believe I am having to write this, but my father, Edward Lodewijk Van Halen, has lost his long arduous battle with cancer this morning. 

He was the best father I could ever ask for. Every moment I’ve shared with him on and off stage was a gift.

My heart is broken and I don’t think I’ll ever fully recover from this loss.

I love you so much, Pop”. 

Eddie was the leading songwriter and founder of Californian rock band Van Halen—with brother Alex Van Halen, bassist Mark Stone, and singer David Lee Roth. Van Halen produced countless raging hits best known for single “Jump”, which featured on their sixth studio LP 1984 selling over 10 million copies in the US. 

In 2012, Eddie was voted number one in a Guitar World magazine poll for “The 100 Greatest Guitarists Of All Time”. 

To the man. The legend. And one of the finest rock gods! 

RIP

Eddie Van Halen