Eddie Van Halen was a legendary guitar player, and he inspired thousands of other musicians with his talent, including Brad Paisley. After Van Halen’s death was confirmed on Tuesday, Paisley paid tribute to him on Instagram, posting a video of himself on stage with Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith, Guns’ N’ Roses bassist Duff McKagan and actor Will Ferrell, who was dressed up as Van Halen’s original lead singer, David Lee Roth.
The group was performing a cover of Van Halen’s “Hot for Teacher,” from the group’s album 1984, their last album before Roth left the band for the first time. “For @eddievanhalen,” Paisley captioned the clip. “Me, #willferrell, @chadsmithofficial @officialduffmckagan playing dress up. Eddie, your influence will live on forever.” Both Van Halen and Paisley brought their own unique styles to their respective guitar playing, and the clip shows that Paisley has not only mastered his brand of picking but is skilled at performing other styles, including Van Halen’s rapid play.
Videos by PopCulture.com
Prior to the video, Paisley posted a throwback photo of Van Halen on stage with a guitar in his hands, writing that he was “I am so sad to hear we lost @eddievanhalen today.”
“I loved everything about the fire and style he brought to the guitar,” he shared. “I studied him, heck everybody did, we all wanted to play just like him. But no one did it quite like him. Thank you Eddie for being a pioneer. It’s unimaginable what the guitar would be without you.”
View this post on Instagram
After Van Halen’s death, Roth was one of many to remember him on social media, sharing a black-and-white photo of the two backstage. “What a Long Great Trip It’s Been..,” he wrote.
Van Halen formed in 1972 in Pasadena, California. Since then, it has released 12 studio albums, its first being a 1978 self-titled debut while the most recent was 2012’s A Different Kind of Truth. The group is one of the top-20 best-selling artists of all time and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007. The latest iteration of the band included Van Halen, his brother Alex, his son, Wolf and Roth.
