‘Overwhelmed,’ Guns N’ Roses Guitarist Slash Remembers Fellow Guitar God Eddie Van Halen

Following the death of songwriter and guitarist Eddie Van Halen on Tuesday, reaction continues to pour in from around the music world.

In suburban Chicago to launch the new Guns N’ Roses “Not in This Lifetime” pinball machine, GNR guitarist Slash weighed in on the loss.

“You know what, I got a million texts about it while I was here,” the guitarist told Forbes, taking a break during a photo shoot at the Jersey Jack Pinball factory in Elk Grove Village, IL. “I had put my phone in the office because we were doing a bunch of stuff with the games. I went to get my phone and looked and I had all of these messages. I’m a little overwhelmed about the whole thing right now. He’s somebody that I’ve known for a long time – and we have some good stories. We have a ton of mutual friends as well and I know they’re all devastated. So I’m sort of speechless,” he continued, processing the passing of his colleague and friend. “In rock and roll, this is one of those things that is going to impact the whole community – and beyond that too – but really deeply the rock and roll community. And I’m just sort of shocked.”

As a member of rock supergroup Velvet Revolver, Slash was on hand to induct Van Halen into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame alongside Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, R.E.M., The Ronettes and Patti Smith, the Rock Hall class of 2007.

“Eddie Van Halen: a guitar genius and innovator. A god to fans and musicians alike,” said Slash on stage at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City on March 12, 2007, prior to a Velvet Revolver performance of the 1978 Van Halen hit “Ain’t Talkin’ ‘bout Love,” which closed with a snippet of the 1991 VH cut “Runaround.”

Edward Van Halen passed away Tuesday following a battle with metastatic throat cancer. He was 65.