Sad news yesterday, Van Halen guitarist Eddie Van Halen passed away yesterday after a long battle with cancer. The tributes poured in from so many people, including Braid Paisley, Keith Urban, and Kenny Chesney.

Brad shared a photo of Instagram saying, “I am so sad to hear we lost @eddievanhalen today. I loved everything about the fire and style he brought to the guitar. I studied him, heck everybody did, we all wanted to play just like him. But no one did it quite like him. Thank you Eddie for being a pioneer. It’s unimaginable what the guitar would be without you.”

Keith Urban also shared a photo on Instagram saying, “Just heard the news of Eddie Van Halen’s passing ..... this hit me hard. There are lots of great guitar players in the world, but very VERY few true innovators. Players who seem to have arrived from a far distant planet , and who bring a completely new color to the rainbow. Eddie Van Halen was this and so much more. Even without the finger tapping, you had a player with extraordinary touch, tone, and a rhythmic pocket and bounce that floated like Ali in the ring. He was a master of complex solos that spoke to non musicians...THAT IS HARD TO DO. The reason was the exquisite melody in his heart, and the joy in his soul of playing FOR people - and it came through like a ray of sun we ALL felt. I say a prayer today for his family and friends. - and from players like me , all over the world who never got to meet him, I say THANK YOU EDDIE. WE LOVE YOU !!!!!!!”

Kenny Chesney was close friends with Eddie and shared on his Facebook, “He was a friend and a hero to anyone who has ever picked up a guitar and had a dream. Eddie and his brother Alex joined us on stage at one of our stadium shows in Los Angeles and it was one of the highlights of my touring life in all my summers on the road. I will never forget that night and how happy we both were that our musical paths crossed that night on stage. Rest In Peace to the best guitar player that ever lived. We will miss you Eddie Van Halen. Your music will live forever!!”

Garth will be presented with the Billboard Icon Award at the 2020 Billboard Music Awards, which will air live from the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles next Wednesday at 7 p.m. During his Inside Studio G series on Facebook on Monday, Garth confirmed he will be performing at the show. “Next Wednesday, we’re receiving the Icon Award, and thing is--only because of Covid rules--[they’re] only allowing so many bandmembers to go,” said Garth. “If you’ll notice, for anybody that’s been with us since the beginning, it will be the same guys that started this whole ship together… To think that there’s five of the original seven of us on that stage is really cool.” Additional performers include Luke Combs, Alicia Keys, Bad Bunny, Post Malone, Doja Cat, Kane Brown, Swae Lee and Khalid.

CMT announced its second round of performers for the 2020 CMT Music Awards on October 21st: Caylee Hammack, Hardy, Ingrid Andress, Mickey Guyton, Riley Green and Travis Denning. Previously announced performers include Ashley McBryde, Dan + Shay, Kane Brown, Little Big Town, Luke Bryan and Maren Morris. The fan-voted CMT Awards hand out annual awards in a number of categories, including Video of the Year, Collaborative Video of the Year, Breakthrough Video of the Year and more. The show will air on CMT, with a six-network simulcast across MTV, MTV2, Logo, Paramount Network, Pop and TV Land.

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