Van Halen will live on forever in their hometown of Pasadena, California. The city is set to honor one of its own next month, dedicating new park space and a stage to the iconic rock act. It comes just a few weeks shy of the second anniversary of the passing of guitarist Eddie Van Halen on Oct. 6, 2020.
In a story posted in local publication Pasadena Now, it’s noted that the city will officially honor their hometown heroes with the new Playhouse Village Park and the Van Halen Stage in the Playhouse District on Sept. 10. A ribbon cutting ceremony will take place at 9AM local time followed by a public celebration that will go through noon that day.
According to the article, no speakers have been announced yet for the ceremony, but surviving brother and band member Alex Van Halen would be a great pick, and Eddie’s son Wolfgang won’t be out on tour again with his band Mammoth WVH until November.
The decision for the Van Halen designation in Pasadena comes after a citywide survey last year in which residents were asked for naming suggestions for the new 1.04-acre park space. After a couple rounds, Eddie Van Halen and noted African-American sci-fi writer Octavia E. Butler were in the lead.
The City Council eventually settled on Playhouse Village Park for the larger space, noting it was more “appropriate,” according to the Pasadena Now article. But the stage will rightfully honor the music act that formed in the city 50 years in 1972. The Van Halen family also requested the new stage be named for the entire band rather than singling out Eddie, signaling that they are at least in small part involved in the honors.
Eddie Van Halen also has his own memorial plaque outside the Pasadena Civic Auditorium, where Pasadena Now notes in another article that the band played 14 times between the span of 1975 and 1978.
Recently, news leaked that a Van Halen tribute show was in the works after bassist Jason Newsted let it slip, noting he was being considered for the lineup of musicians. Though Wolfgang Van Halen shared with Rolling Stone that any progress is being stalled as “some people” are making it “very difficult” to move forward. According to Eddie Trunk, “some people” is David Lee Roth.
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