Eddie Van Halen memorial planned in late guitarist’s home city of Pasadena, California
Fans have been leaving tributes at the musician’s childhood home.
Photo: Daniel Knighton / Getty Images
A memorial for Eddie Van Halen is being planned in the city of Pasadena, California, where the guitar icon grew up and where he formed his namesake band, Van Halen.
Eddie Van Halen died on 6 October after a six-year battle with cancer. Although he was born in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, Eddie Van Halen and his family moved to Pasadena, California in 1962, when he was just seven years old.
Since his passing, fans have been leaving flowers, candles and other mementoes at the musician’s childhood home on Las Lunas Street. Tributes are also being left on Allen Avenue, at a site where Eddie and his brother Alex wrote their band’s name into the sidewalk as teenagers.
According to Blabbermouth, the Pasadena city council will be meeting later today (26 October) to discuss a number of possible proposals for the memorial.
“Since his passing, Pasadena has received several requests and suggestions from the community to do or name something in Van Halen’s [honour] to [recognise] both his local connection to Pasadena, as well as the impact that his artistry had on music,” an agenda report for the meeting wrote.
“A strip of curb on North Allen near the Van Halen home on Las Lunas street has served as a make-shift memorial site since his passing, helping to prompt a broader discussion of a local memorial.”
The report also hinted that a statue could be erected at the Pasadena Convention Center and Civic Auditorium, where Van Halen gave some of their earliest performances.
“Coincidentally, the Pasadena Center Operating Company (PCOC) has been approached by an individual interested in hosting a virtual benefit concert with proceeds raised funding the construction of a statue or monument in the musician’s honour.”
“The PCOC staff is also open to placing a plaque or statue, or renaming a walkway in between the Civic Auditorium and Exhibit Hall, so that there is a public place for people to visit to celebrate the life and legacy of Van Halen.”
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