Jack White dedicated his ‘Saturday Night Live’ musical performance to the late rocker Eddie Van Halen.
Eddie passed away last week following a “long and arduous battle” with tongue cancer and White Stripes musician Jack ditched his own guitar to use a cobalt blue model designed for him by Eddie while performing his song, ‘Lazaretto on ‘SNL’ on Saturday.
Just before ‘SNL’ went on air, Jack revealed his tribute plans on Instagram.
He wrote: “i thought it could be a nice gesture for me to use this blue eddie van halen model guitar for one of the songs tonight on SNL. the guitar was designed by eddie (with a few customizations i had added). eddie was very kind to me and saw to it that this guitar was made for me to my specs. i wont even insult the man’s talent by trying to play one of his songs tonight. thanks again eddie for this guitar and rest in peace sir (sic).”
A short clip of Van Halen performing on ‘SNL’ in 1987 was also featured, while host Bill Burr ended the show by saying “rest in peace, Eddie Van Halen”.
Eddie’s sad passing at the age of 65 was first revealed by his son Wolfgang Van Halen, 29.
In a statement posted to Twitter, Wolfgang wrote: “I can’t believe I’m having to write this,] but my father, Edward Lodewijk Van Halen, has lost his long and arduous battle with cancer this morning.
“He was the best father I could ever ask for. Every moment I’ve shared with him on and off stage was a gift. My heart is broken and I don’t think I’ll ever fully recover from this loss. I love you so much, Pop.”
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