Van Halen guitarist Eddie Van Halen tragically died one year ago today at age 65 after what his son, Wolfgang Van Halen, described as a “long and arduous battle with cancer.” Eddie was a revolutionary musician who influenced countless guitarists that followed in his footsteps. He also made a huge impact on contemporary Nancy Wilson of Heart. Wilson paid tribute to EVH on the anniversary of his death by releasing a performance video featuring an extended version of You And Me single “4 Edward.”
“I created the extended version of’4 Edward’ called ‘4 Edward With Love’ as a remembrance of the anniversary of Eddie’s departure,” the Heart co-founder and Rock & Roll Hall Of Famer stated in a press release. “Also, there was a general outcry that ‘4 Edward’ was too short and so I had a good excuse to record a new version and a new video to accompany it, once again starring [Wilson’s dog] Lucy the Wonderdog.”
Nancy Wilson discussed “4 Edward” and her interactions with Eddie Van Halen during a May 2021 interview with Guitar World. “We were actually on the road with [Van Halen] a couple of times, and they were just wild men. They were the wildest partiers I’d ever seen,” Wilson revealed. “But Eddie actually complimented me on my acoustic playing and I said, ‘Oh, coming from you, that’s everything.’ And I asked him, ‘Why don’t you play more acoustic yourself?’ And he goes, ‘Well, you know, I don’t really have one.’ I told him, ‘I’m giving you this one right now!’ I think we were backstage and I said, ‘Give that man a guitar!’”
The story doesn’t end there. “So then at the crack of dawn the next morning, the phone in my hotel room rings, and it’s Eddie. It was obvious he had been up all night and he said, ‘Listen.’ And I listened to him play this gorgeous acoustic instrumental piece that started sort of classical, had a lot of fiery kind of stuff in the middle, and then kind of finished up with a beautiful major chord thing,” Nancy added. “So when he left us recently, I thought, Okay … .I’m recording … I should do an instrumental … I should dedicate it to Eddie.”
Wilson was happy with how “4 Edward” turned out and included the song on May’s You And Me, her debut solo album. Nancy described the track as her interpretation of what she heard on the telephone when Eddie played her the piece he composed in the middle of the night. Check out her beautiful performance of the slightly extended “4 Edward With Love” below:
