Eddie Van Halen, the virtuoso guitarist whose innovative and blistering solos helped propel the band named after him into one of rock's biggest acts in the 1980s, has died of cancer. He was 65.

The news was announced on Tuesday (October 6) by his son Wolfgang, who became the band's bassist when it reunited in 2007. “I can't believe I'm having to write this but my father, Edward Lodewijk Van Halen, has lost his long and arduous battle with cancer this morning,” he wrote.

The band was formed by Eddie and his brother, drummer Alex Van Halen, and carries both their surnames. It became one of the biggest names in American hard rock in the 1980s, with the guitarist's solos as its signature.