IN MEMORIAM

This continues to be a very sad year as we have lost two more gifted musicians; rock guitarist, Eddie van Halen of the heavy-metal band, Van Halen and pop singer, Johnny Nash. 

Van Halen, who passed away on October 6th at the age of sixty-five after battling throat cancer for the last few years, was considered one of the greatest guitarists in rock, popularizing a technique called tapping which he used both hands on the guitar neck. It is his dynamic guitar solo you hear on Michael Jackson's smash 1982 rock-driven hit, "Beat It" and helped it become one of best-selling singles of all time. Van Halen is most associated with the Frankenstrat, a custom guitar he built from parts and even received patents on ideas related to his guitar inventions.

He was born on January 26, 1955 in Amsterdam, Netherlands to an Indonesian mother and Dutch father who was a jazz musician. The family moved to the US in 1962 and settled in Pasadena, CA. Van Halen, along with his older brother, Alex, were taught to play the piano when they were very young with the hope they would become classical pianists. However, Eddie and Alex gravitated toward rock & roll. Alex went with the drums while Eddie settled on the electric guitar. The boys, who had formed several bands since they were elementary school, decided to become professional musicians during college. 

The van Halen boys met bass guitarist, Michael Anthony and the wildly flamboyant front man, David Lee Roth and they first formed a hard band called, Mammoth. But after another band claimed that name, they agreed to become "Van Halen". They played all along the Sunset strip for a few years before Van Halen was signed to Warner Bros. Records in 1977. The following year, their self-titled debut was released and brought them attention, scoring hits with "Runnin' With The Devil" and their version of the Kinks, "You Really Got Me".  The band would enjoy even greater success and popularity with their subsequent albums until Roth abruptly left Van Halen during the height of their fame in 1985 due to creative differences with Eddie van Halen. But he was replaced with Sammy Hagar and Van Halen would continue to enjoy success, ultimately selling over eighty million albums worldwide.

He met actress Valerie Bertinelli, a star of the popular sitcom, "One Day at a Time", at a Van Halen concert in 1980, married a year later and had a son, Wolfgang, who later followed in his father's footsteps as a musician, even joining Van Halen to replace bass guitarist, Anthony in 2006. The couple separated in 2001 before divorcing in 2007. Van Halen would marry actress, Janie Liszewski in 2009.

Best known for the 1972 pop hit, "I Can See Clearly Now", Johnny Nash passed away on October 6th at the age of eighty. The Houston, TX born and raised performer died in his hometown after a period of failing health. He was born on August 19, 1940 and sang in the choir of his Baptist church as a child. Nash began performing professionally in 1953 on a local TV variety show and then later on Arthur Godfrey's radio and television programs. 

Nash was signed to ABC Records and was groomed to rival pop idol, Johnny Mathis. His first charting success was a cover of "A Very Special Love" (a song that Doris Day originally made popular) in 1958. He would achieve some popularity, appearing in films and charting in the top-five of the r&b chart with the ballad, "Let's Move and Groove Together" in 1965. Later that year, Nash moved to Jamaica, embracing the island country and the music. After meeting Bob Marley and members of his band, the Wailing Wailers, Nash decided to try to bring the rocksteady sound to America. He succeeded with the singles, "Hold Me Tight" and a cover of Marley's "Stir It Up" charting in the US and the UK. 

Nash's biggest hit song, "I Can See Clearly Now", which he wrote, featured a reggae-influenced beat. This single reached number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 for four weeks, sold over a million copies and has been covered countless times by a variety of artists. Following this success, Nash would continue to perform over the years with his biggest follow-up hit was the single, "Tears On My Pillow" (not a cover of the Little Anthony and the Imperials hit 1958 song) reaching number one in the UK Singles Chart in 1975.