Remembering Eddie Van Halen: His 20 greatest performances

A technical virtuoso with a rock star’s natural flair, Eddie Van Halen played instantly identifiable electric guitar — so identifiable, in fact, that his namesake band spent decades cycling through styles and lead singers without ever sounding any less like itself. Less a love song than a creep show scored by Eddie and his guitar, the hardest jam on Van Halen’s self-titled debut focuses on a “semi-good lookin’” woman with a disease and a narrating dude who offers something he thinks she needs — and he ain’t talkin’ ’bout love. ‘Dance the Night Away’ × “Dance the Night Away” video by Van Halen Eddie’s penchant for ridiculous solo runs often eclipsed his skill at arranging a few choice riffs just so and harnessing them in service of Brill Building-structured pop songs. ‘Panama’ Eddie’s trickster steez shines through in the labyrinthine guitar work of Van Halen’s “1984” romp “Panama.” His playful riffs dizzy themselves into a brooding lull, cut short by a crafty interjection from a hairdryer. ‘China Town’ Van Halen’s long-hoped-for reunion with Roth was legendarily fraught, with a world tour the band bailed on only months after the release of 2012’s “A Different Kind of Truth.” Yet this hurtling double-time highlight showed Eddie could still bring it when he wanted to.