Jack White Plays Eddie Van Halen Guitar on SNL: Watch
In a touching tribute to the late Van Halen who died of cancer at 65 on Tuesday, "The White Stripes" frontman abandoned his own guitar to instead use a cobalt blue model designed by Van Halen for White himself while performing his song, "Lazaretto."
The three-piece then returned to the stage to play “Lazaretto”, the title track to White’s sophomore solo album. The performance was especially notable for White’s choice of instrument: “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,” White wrote in an Instagram post prior to tonight’s episode. “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.” And in a further nod to Van Halen, White briefly played a finger-tapping solo on the guitar.