Rockstar Eddie Van Halen’s Asian Roots Shocks the Internet
By Maina Chen
Rock legend Eddie Van Halen, 65, passed away on Tuesday morning from throat cancer.
Eddie’s son, Wolfgang, announced the news on Twitter, describing his father’s illness as a “long and arduous battle.”
Born in Amsterdam on Jan. 26, 1955 to a Dutch saxophonist father and European Indonesian mother, the Van Halen family immigrated to Pasadena, California in 1962 to escape racial prejudice against his mother, Eddie, and his older brother Alex, the New York Times reported.
Eddie would go on to make an impact on the rock world with his brother and namesake band, becoming renowned for his innovation with the guitar and his two-handed tapping technique, according to BBC.
Since the news of his passing, Indonesian and other Asian fans poured their pride in “one of the greatest rock guitarists of all time” with words of praise and admiration, Coconuts Jakarta reported.
I was today years
old when I found out that Eddie Van Halen was of Asian descent. His
mother Eugenia was Indonesian Dutch. I can only imagine how impactful
knowing this would’ve been growing up as a half-Asian
metalhead.RIP Eddie Van Halen. pic.twitter.com/pJsBivoevU
—
JP (@jessiepeterson) October
7, 2020
Fellow rock legends and musicians mourned the loss as well.
Featured Image (left) via Getty, (right) @jessiepeterson
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