According to Pasadena Now, Eddie Van Halen's former longtime guitar technician Rudy Leiren is chairing a team that will bring a memorial statue honoring the late, great VAN HALEN guitar virtuoso to Pasadena, California. Last October, a City Council meeting was held in Pasadena where a memorial honoring Eddie was discussed. City manager Steve Mermell was directed to come up with ideas for how to best honor the musician, who died earlier that same month at the age of 65. "The City is reviewing various ideas that have emerged in the last two months and the city has been in touch with the firm that represents the interests of Van Halen," said Michelle Garrett, a special projects manager with the city. "At the appropriate time, after a range of issues are more fully explored, staff will return to Council with an update on the type of memorial that respects the family’s wishes and complies with local guidelines for memorials." Then-councilmember Victor Gordo suggested that Mermell bring together a public group to figure out for the most appropriate way to remember Van Halen, who attended school in Pasadena with his drummer brother Alex, and played backyard parties in the area with VAN HALEN in the early 1970s before signing a record deal and achieving worldwide fame. In the first three weeks after Eddie's death, the city was bombarded with requests to pay tribute to the guitarist "to recognize both his local connection to Pasadena, as well as the impact that his artistry had on music," Mermell wrote in a report. "Recognizing Van Halen the band and/or individual members should be considered," according to the report. "With his passing, Eddie Van Halen's international recognition as a musical artist is noted for the significant impact he had on the Rock & Roll genre and his legacy is a source of hometown pride for the city." Following Eddie's death after a long battle with cancer, fans left flowers at his childhood home on Las Lunas Street in Pasadena. Additional flowers, candles and fan mementos were placed on Allen Avenue where Eddie and Alex scratched their band's name into the wet cement of a sidewalk when they were teenagers. VAN HALEN was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 2007. Rolling Stone magazine ranked Eddie Van Halen No. 8 in its list of the 100 greatest guitarists.
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