New Eddie Van Halen Mural on the Sunset Strip

Muralist Rogert Vargas’s pays tribute to guitar legend Eddie Van Halen with a mural on the wall at Guitar Center Hollywood.

The mural shows Van Halen playing his “Frankenstrat” guitar. Vargas donated his time and talent to design and create the mural, which measures approximately 17 feet tall x 105 feet long and covers the store’s outer wall at its rear entrance.

His comment: “Eddie was one of my creative heroes. When I was young, the debut Van Halen record was the first album I ever owned. He influenced me over the years in so many different ways. As soon as the news hit of his passing, I knew I had to do something creative to memorialize him, and Guitar Center was the obvious venue. Right here on the Sunset Strip, where the band made their bones – I can’t think of a better place for this tribute to him.

“When you work hard at something, you can reach your full potential. Be true to your art, and your art will be true to you. I had the chance to meet Eddie a few years back, and because he and I connected on the nature of art and creativity, painting him here is therapeutic. Thank you, Guitar Center for allowing me to use my creative process to connect with him one more time and share it with the world.”   

The store also features a Jimi Hendrix mural, and outside the entrance to the store are concrete blocks bearing the signatures and handprints from more than 150 notable musicians (including Van Halen), producers, iconic bands, and music instrument manufacturers that have been recognized for achievements with induction into the world famous RockWalk.