Van Halen co-founder and namesake Eddie Van Halen has died at the age of 65. The legendary guitarist had been battling throat cancer for some time now and reportedly passed away earlier today at St. John's Hospital in Santa Monica, California.
According to TMZ, in the last 72 hours Eddie's "ongoing health battle went massively downhill -- doctors discovered his throat cancer had moved to his brain as well as other organs."
Van Halen had been battling cancer for well over a decade and had been in and out of the hospital several times over the past year -- including last November for intestinal issues -- and recently underwent a round of chemo as well.
Just last month, Collective Soul's Ed Roland told us a great story of Van Halen taking them under their wing during their earliest days and the good nature and advice that Eddie Van Halen gave.
