Born Edward Lodewijk Van Halen, he is a Dutch-American guitarist, keyboardist, songwriter and producer, known as the lead guitarist and co-founder of the hard rock band Van Halen. Eddie is widely considered as an innovator in guitar performing and recording styles, and also accalimed for his energetic and acrobatic stage performances. Although he did not invent it, his use of two-handed tapping, natural and artificial harmonics, vibrato, and tremolo picking, combined with his rhythmic sensibility and melodic approach, have influenced an entire generation of rock guitarists. His solo in "Eruption" was voted 2 on Guitar World magazine's readers poll of the 100 Greatest Guitar Solos. He was also acclaimed in 1982 for his guitar solo, which was improvised, in one of the greatest hit singles ever: Michael Jackson's "Beat It".