Joe Satriani on Eddie van Halen: The greatest of the generation

Guitarist Joe Satriani shared his thoughts on Eddie van Halen with the Billboard, after the virtuoso guitarist's passing: "The little technical things that guitar players can talk about for hours, they get picked up by a million people in a second. Everybody can copy the technical bits, but nobody could put the heart and soul and personality into each little bit like he could and no one delivered it like he did. He wrote great songs that were fun". Rage Against the Machine's Tom Morello looked up to him: "Eddie Van Halen was one of the greatest, most inventive, truly visionary musicians of all time. He was an unparalleled titan in the annals of rock & roll". Smashing Pumpkins' Billy Corgan was also an unexpected fan: “I am truly saddened by his loss; and isn’t it strange that a man who played an instrument spoke directly to so many in an unmatched way that rivals only a few: Coltrane, Hendrix, Parker, Miles, Django”.