Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony plays “Right now” in tribute to Eddie

Singer Sammy Hagar and bassist Michael Anthony, both ex-Van Halen members, performed the band’s classic song “Right Now” during Hagar’s annual birthday bash that was broadcasted to a pay-per-view audience. The singer also asked a moment of silence before the song paying tribute to the late Eddie Van Halen, that lost his battle with cancer last October 6. Besides Hagar and Anthony, the band also has drummer Jason Bonham and guitarist Vic Johnson.

Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony plays “Right now” in tribute to Eddie:

They also released a message talking about Eddie Van Halen’s death:

“For Mike and I, it was just like getting hit by a freaking Mack truck,” Sammy said about learning of Eddie’s death. “It kind of took the wind out of the sails. I just wanna say that I’m kind of devastated. A VAN HALEN song never felt so hard to sing and play in my life.”

“What I felt playing especially a song like ‘Right Now’ that is so timeless, that I felt, ‘Wow, thank God for this.’ We’ll never play it with Eddie again, but thank God for this.”

Michael Anthony also said:

“It was hard. It’s very surreal right now. It hasn’t sunk in yet. We have the music, if nothing else.”

Eddie Van Halen technique

Early in his career, Eddie played the drums and the keyboard and Alex played the guitar and studied the keyboard. Over time Alex got better than Eddie on drums, and Eddie started to train the guitar, overcoming him.

Eddie is one of the most acclaimed guitarists in history. Eventually he received several honors and mentions from the most varied magazines specializing in the subject. Besides, he ranks 8th on the list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time by Rolling Stone magazine. Also is the 7th on the Gibson list of the 50 best guitarists of all time.