Jack White pays tribute to late guitar great Eddie Van Halen with his ‘SNL’ performance

• Jack White paid tribute to late guitar great Eddie Van Halen during his performance on “Saturday Night Live.”
• White played with a guitar made and personally given to him by Van Halen.
• If you look close enough, you’ll also see White do some fingerpicking up the neck of the guitar, which was a move Van Halen was known for.
• Eddie Van Halen died on October 6 after battling throat cancer.
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Jack White showed off his guitar skills and gave a subtle nod to one of the greats during his performance on “Saturday Night Live.”

The former White Stripes frontman performed the song “Lazaretto” from his 2014 album of the same name with a blue guitar made by Eddie Van Halen. The revolutionary lead guitarist from the band Van Halen died on October 6.

“The guitar was designed by Eddie (with a few customizations I had added),” White said in an Instagram post. “Eddie was very kind to me and saw to it that this guitar was made for me to my specs. I wont even insult the man’s talent by trying to play one of his songs tonight. Thanks again Eddie for this guitar and rest in peace sir.”

i thought it could be a nice gesture for me to use this blue eddie van halen model guitar for one of the songs tonight on SNL. the guitar was designed by eddie (with a few customizations i had added). eddie was very kind to me and saw to it that this guitar was made for me to my specs. i wont even insult the man’s talent by trying to play one of his songs tonight. thanks again eddie for this guitar and rest in peace sir.

A post shared by Jack White Live (@officialjackwhitelive) on Oct 10, 2020 at 1:03pm PDTOct 10, 2020 at 1:03pm PDT

As White wrote, there were no riffs from any Van Halen songs while he rocked out playing "Lazaretto," however, fans of Eddie's handiwork will catch that White does do some fingerpicking up the neck of the guitar, which was a Van Halen classic move.

Eddie Van Halen died at the age of 65 after battling throat cancer. His incredible guitar riffs and songwriting made the group Van Halen, which he co-founded with his brother drummer Alex, into one of the most influential rock bands of the late 1970s and early 1980s.

White was a last-second addition to the show after the original musical guest for this week's episode, Morgan Wallen, was scratched after not abiding to social distancing rules.

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