Los Angeles (AFP)

Eddie Van Halen, guitarist and founder of the hard rock group Van Halen, who became famous around the world with his hit "Jump", took the plunge: he died Tuesday at the age of 65 after "a long fight against cancer, announced his son Wolf.

“My father, Edward Lodewijk Van Halen, lost his long and difficult battle with cancer this morning,” Wolf Van Halen wrote on Twitter.

Figure of hard rock of the 1980s, the group Van Halen was founded in Pasadena, near Los Angeles by Eddie and his older brother Alex (drums), with singer David Lee Roth.

Eddie Van Halen was born in the Netherlands but grew up in Pasadena.

He was considered a virtuoso guitarist and was notably illustrated by a legendary guitar solo on Michael Jackson's "Beat It" in 1983.

The group soon rose to fame with "Jump", a hard rock anthem carried by synthesizer riffs that had been composed by Eddie Van Halen but initially rejected by the other members of the group.

The track had finally appeared on their best-selling album, "1984", and had remained at the top of the American charts for five consecutive weeks.

"Jump" traditionally accompanies the entry of players of the Marseille football team on their ground and OM has also paid tribute to the late guitarist on his Twitter account.

After David Lee Roth left in 1985, Van Halen continued to release albums and perform with singers Sammy Hagar and then Gary Cherone, but never regained the popularity of the first period.

- Metal picks -

"He was the best father you could dream of. Every moment I shared with him on and off stage was a gift," added Wolfgang "Wolf" Van Halen, who had replaced the band's original bassist (Michael Anthony ) in 2007 when David Lee Roth reunited with Van Halen for a tour.

In 2012, the group had to cancel concerts in Japan due to Eddie Van Halen's emergency surgery.

Three years later, Van Halen's musicians were back on the road for a long tour of the United States and Canada.

Heavy smoker, drug user, Eddie Van Halen has long had to fight against cancer of the digestive tract.

In 2000, doctors had to remove part of his tongue because of a tumor, which he attributed - without proof - to the use of metal picks (tabs intended for strumming the strings of a guitar). .

"I used metal, bronze and copper picks, which I always held in my mouth, at the exact spot where I had cancer of the tongue," he said in 2015 to the specialist magazine Billboard.

“Plus, I practically live in a recording studio that's filled with electro-magnetic energy,” he added, conceding that decades of smoking may not have helped his health.

He said he had been drinking and smoking since the age of twelve, but had not spent his career partying.

"I don't drink for fun," he said.

"Alcohol and cocaine are things I use in private, for work" and for creativity.

By dint of excess, he had become "alcoholic", which had precipitated his divorce from actress Valerie Bertinelli in 2007, after sixteen years of marriage.

He said he had become sober the following year.

Eddie Van Halen assured that he did not really remember having composed the most famous songs of his group, such as "Eruption" or "Panama".

"I don't remember, it just comes to me like that," he explained.

And the guitarist told Billboard that he hardly listens to music.

"It's a strange thing, but I've been like this all my life. I couldn't make a contemporary record if I wanted to, because I don't know what contemporary music is like," he said. .

© 2020 AFP