French football club Marseille pays tribute to late Eddie Van Halen

MANILA, Philippines — Who says sports and music don’t mix?

French Ligue 1 side Olympique Marseille paid tribute to American rock star and guitar wizard Eddie Van Halen, who passed away Tuesday morning, October 6, following a long battle with cancer.

The news was broken on Twitter by Van Halen’s son, Wolfgang, who joined the band on bass in 2006.

“Jump to heaven, rest in peace,” initially posted Marseille on their Twitter page @OM_Officiel where within the first three hours saw their club logo set to Van Halen’s 1984 hit “Jump” viewed almost 200,000 times with 3,000 retweets and more than 6,300 likes and heart signs.

RIP Eddie Van Halen ????

Your music made all of us at @orangevelodrome ???????????????? with joy every weekend.

Our sincere condolences to Eddie’s family and friends ??????pic.twitter.com/AHyKQgMcc6

— Olympique de Marseille ???????? ???????? (@OM_English) October 6, 2020

Marseille posted a second Tweet that said, “Eddie Van Halen, founding member of Van Halen whose song ‘Jump’ accompanies the entry of our players (to the pitch at the Stade Velodrome) has passed away. Olympique de Marseille sends its sincere condolences to his family and loved ones.”

Eddie Van Halen founded Van Halen with his brother Alex on drums in 1974 and are one of the most successful bands in the modern rock music era selling more than 80 million albums worldwide.

Eddie himself influenced a generation of rock guitarists from Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, Nuno Bettencourt, and bands like Extreme, Guns N’ Roses, Limp Bizkit, White Zombie, and others.

Marseille is coming off a 1-1 draw with Lyon last Monday, October 5. They currently sport a 2-3-1 slate in the 2020-21 Ligue 1 season. They finished second place last season behind Paris Saint-Germain.

Marseille is currently coached by Portuguese Andre Villas-Boas who had a sterling stint with Tottenham in the English Premier League from 2012-13. 
Among their noted players are team captain, goalkeeper, and former French national player Steve Mandanda, Japanese defender Hiroki Sakai, midfielder and forward Florian Thauvin.