On October 6th 2020, the world was shocked by the news that guitar legend Eddie Van Halen had died. A rock prodigy with a boyish charm, Eddie was never more comfortable than when he had a guitar in his hand. Known as the founder of the Van Halen, a band synonymous with California cool, Eddie was surprisingly an immigrant. Of both Dutch and Indonesian heritage, his family moved from the Netherlands to California when he was a child. Without knowing a word of English, Eddie overcame racism in a pre civil rights America. By age 25, Eddie’s band had sold multiple platinum albums and his innovative guitar techniques cemented Eddie in Rock and Roll history. It seemed nothing could stop him. But behind his contagious smile, there was a darker undercurrent that would plague Eddie throughout his life. He dealt with addiction issues for over 4 decades, having started drinking at just age 12. Often relying on alcohol and other substances to maintain his creativity, Eddie would spend many years in and out of rehab. He was a workaholic, often pushing his body to the limits in order to perform while secretly battling illness. Eddie died at the age of 65 from cancer. But if caught early, Eddie’s disease had reasonable survival rates. So what happened? World renowned forensic pathologist, Dr. Michael Hunter needs to analyse every detail of Eddie Van Halen’s life in order to piece together what else may have been going on in his body, ultimately leading to his untimely death.
