--- title: Gene Simmons on the Impact of Eddie Van Halen description: The Kiss frontman remembers both the talent and the gentle soul of his friend Eddie Van Halen, who died on Oct. 6 at 65. canonical: https://time.com/5897523/eddie-van-halen-obituary/ author: Gene Simmons article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2020-10-08T01:50:25.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-24T09:17:55.812Z article:section: Ideas og:title: 'It Was Always Just the Joy.' Gene Simmons on the Talent and Soul of Eddie Van Halen og:description: The Kiss frontman remembers both the incredible skill and the gentle nature of his friend Eddie Van Halen, who died on Oct. 6 at 65 og:url: https://time.com/5897523/eddie-van-halen-obituary/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt53b4d7909b6d3f6b/698a12f2656a3f3edfbda921/eddie-van-halen-obituary.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: eddie-van-halen-obituary og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 'It Was Always Just the Joy.' Gene Simmons on the Talent and Soul of Eddie Van Halen twitter:description: The Kiss frontman remembers both the incredible skill and the gentle nature of his friend Eddie Van Halen, who died on Oct. 6 at 65 twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt53b4d7909b6d3f6b/698a12f2656a3f3edfbda921/eddie-van-halen-obituary.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 'It Was Always Just the Joy.' Gene Simmons on the Talent and Soul of Eddie Van Halen by [Gene Simmons](https://time.com/author/gene-simmons/) ## Gene Simmons Oct 8, 2020 1:50 AM UTC  Eddie Van Halen striking a pose at the Kouseinennkinn-kaikan, Tokyo, June 1978 Eddie Van Halen striking a pose at the Kouseinennkinn-kaikan, Tokyo, June 1978Koh Hasebe—Shinko Music/Getty Images by [Gene Simmons](https://time.com/author/gene-simmons/) ## Gene Simmons Oct 8, 2020 1:50 AM UTC [Eddie Van Halen,](https://time.com/5897044/eddie-van-halen-dies/) who died Oct. 6 at 65, wasn’t just a guitar god. He was a gentle soul. The first time I saw him playing with his brother Alex at the Starwood club, in 1976, he was smiling like he had just won the lottery. The music coming out of his guitar was awe-inspiring—I was kicked in the nuts. The word _classical_ describes Andrés Segovia and people like that. But what Eddie did was _classic._ He never played the rock-star game or put down other bands. It was always just the joy. And he brought joy to millions of people. I ran into him on Sunset Boulevard after he got cancer. He was joking, smoking a cigarette, God bless him. He opened his mouth and said, “Hey, man, check out my upper palate. It’s gone.” I was horrified. But he shrugged and said, “Oh well.” They say a dog is a man’s best friend. For Eddie, it was his guitar. Eddie’s music is going to last forever—and so are all the guitar players who worshipped the ground he walked on. There’s never going to be another like him. _—as told to Andrew R. Chow_ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5897523/eddie-van-halen-obituary/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5897523/eddie-van-halen-obituary/"},"headline":"'It Was Always Just the Joy.' 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