The word is out and unless you live under a rock, you know that Eddie Van Halen has passed.  

I remember back in the mid 70's, I was a HUGE Kiss fan.  Then I heard something so different, so remarkable that I stopped dead in my tracks to listen.  One of the "cool" older teenagers down the street was playing an 8-track while working on his car.  I risked my very neck and asked him who it was playing.  Looking up from his engine with a look of total disdain he said "Van Halen Asshole" and went back to wrenching.  

I stood and listened some more to a sound that was so unbelievable that it was hard to imagine it came from a human being.   That sound?  "Eruption" from the first Van Halen album leading into a supercharged rip roaring version of "You Really Got Me."  

I had a paper route and, after collecting the receipts for that month and paying the paper bill, I took the profits and bought that album.  My Dad never knew what hit him the first time he heard that album playing at sonic levels from the old console stereo system we had in the basement.   

Rest In Peace Eddie.  Your legacy and legend are secure.