Jack White may not have much time to prepare for his Saturday Night Live performance tonight, but he found a touching way to honor Eddie Van Halen nonetheless. On the eve of his last-minute performance, White shared a post on social media revealing that he’ll be playing a guitar designed by the late legend.

“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 alongside a few photos of the instrument. “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.”

The tribute begins and ends with the guitar, though, so don’t expect a Van Halen cover. “i wont [sic] even insult the man’s talent by trying to play one of his songs tonight,” White divulged. “thanks again eddie for this guitar and rest in peace sir.”

White was added to the SNL itinerary after Morgan Wallen got booted for violating COVID-19 protocol. See his post below.

EVH died on October 6th at the age of 65 after a long battle with throat cancer. Since his passing, friends, family, colleagues and fans have paid tribute to the guitar virtuoso. To honor his legacy, we rounded up his 10 best solos. See that list here.

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