Van Halen’s California hometown plans memorial to guitarist

PASADENA, Calif. — Eddie Van Halen’s Southern California hometown will memorialize the late guitar legend, but it’s still unclear what form the tribute will take.

The Pasadena City Council on Monday directed officials to come up with ideas and report back on how to best remember the rock icon who died of cancer Oct. 6 at age 65.

The city might consider renaming a street or alley near one of Van Halen’s 1970s rehearsal spaces, the Pasadena Star-News reported.

Other considerations are building a statue, installing a plaque or rechristening a city building, the newspaper said.

A memorial has grown outside the home just northeast of Los Angeles where Eddie Van Halen and his brother, Alex, grew up. Some fans want the house designated a historic landmark.

One person pressed the city to preserve the concrete where a teenage Eddie Van Halen wrote his name in the sidewalk outside a liquor store.

The Van Halen family moved to Pasadena after emigrating to the U.S. from the Netherlands in 1962. The band Van Halen formed about a decade later with singer David Lee Roth and bassist Michael Anthony. They all grew up in the Pasadena area.

With his distinct solos, Eddie Van Halen propelled his band to the top of the charts starting in the late 1970s with their self-titled debut album and then with the blockbuster record “1984,” which contains the classics “Jump,” “Panama” and “Hot for Teacher.”

Van Halen is among the top 20 bestselling artists of all time, and the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007. Rolling Stone magazine put Eddie Van Halen at No. 8 on its list of the 100 greatest guitarists.

The Associated Press