Van Halen's Eruption: stylophone cover video

Eruption played on a pair of stylophones

(Image credit: maromaro1337)

When news of the tragic death of Eddie Van Halen broke, tributes flooded in from all over the world of music.

Some were from musicians whose own style was influenced by Van Halen. Others were from those who appreciated the way in which the guitarist reinvigorated rock music. None were performed on stylophone.

This has changed with a video from YouTube maverick maromaro1337, who's released a version of Van Halen's classic instrumental Eruption. And yes, he's performed the entire thing on a stylophone. Or, to be more precise, three styophones.

"I know that some of you may think that I'm doing a lame parody of this song or poking fun at Eddie," says maromaro1337. "But no, actually I'm heartbroken because one of my guitar idols is dead.

"I did this because nobody else would do it on this instrument and I think that it's somewhat a breakthrough to play this piece on the Stylophone. I know that the last parts are a bit sloppy but seriously it couldn't be done better.

"So, sorry for some mistakes here and there, have fun watching my tribute to one of the greatest guitar players on the planet. PS: I know that it's probably one of the weirdest tributes to a guitar master but what can I do?"

maromaro1337 has previously come to our attention with a quartet of other stylophone covers, which include the demonic adaptation of Black Sabbath's Iron Man, a thrusting version of Rammstein's classic Sonne (with added pyro), a freakish take on Motorhead's Ace Of Spades, and an outlandish romp through AC/DC's Thunderstruck.

Online Editor at Louder/Classic Rock magazine since 2014. 40 years in music industry, online for 27. Also bylines for: Metal Hammer, Prog Magazine, The Word Magazine, The Guardian, The New Statesman, Saga, Music365. Former Head of Music at Xfm Radio, A&R at Fiction Records, early blogger, ex-roadie, published author. Once appeared in a Cure video dressed as a cowboy, and thinks any situation can be improved by the introduction of cats. Favourite Serbian trumpeter: Dejan Petrović.