A tribute to Eddie Van Halen is set to take place during this year’s Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction ceremony.

The legendary guitarist died last month after losing a long battle with throat cancer. His passing was confirmed by his son, Wolfgang.

“I can’t believe I’m having to write this, but my father, Edward Lodewijk Van Halen, has lost his long and arduous battle with cancer this morning,” Wolfgang said in a statement.

“He was the best father I could ever ask for. Every moment I’ve shared with him on and off stage was a gift. My heart is broken and I don’t think I’ll ever fully recover from this loss. I love you so much, Pop.”

Tonight (November 7), the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame will pay tribute to Eddie during its virtual ceremony, with a performance led by Guns N’ Roses’ Slash, Metallica’s Kirk Hammett and Rage Against The Machine’s Tom Morello.

It was announced back in March that the ceremony would be postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Instead a TV special honouring this year’s inductees will air on HBO tonight from 8pm EST. It will also be available to stream on HBO Max.

This year’s Rock And Roll Hall of Fame induction class features Nine Inch Nails, The Notorious B.I.G., Whitney Houston, Depeche Mode, T-Rex and The Doobie Brothers.

Jon Landau and Irving Azoff will be honoured with the Ahmet Ertegun Award.

Meanwhile, the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame has announced it is permanently changing its ceremony schedule due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The news comes after it was announced earlier this year that the 2020 ceremony, which was originally set to take place in May, would move to November and take place in virtual form following the global crisis.

“We moved the timing of the ceremony,” Joel Peresman, president and CEO of the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Foundation, said of this year’s event. “We’re going to move the ceremony permanently so it’s in the fall of each year because of COVID.”

“We’re also moving the nomination process. Normally, the nomination process starts in September, we announce the nominees in October, and then we announce the inductees in January. This time the nomination meetings will happen in January, so we’ll announce the nominees in February and start that voting process then.”