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Eddie Van Halen Has Emergency Surgery

Band postpones Japan tour while guitarist recovers

August 30, 2012 8:30 AM ET
eddie van halen
Eddie Van Halen
Larry Marano/Getty Images

Eddie Van Halen has undergone emergency surgery for "a severe bout of diverticulitis," Van Halen posted on its website, and will spend the next four to six months recovering. As a result, the rockers are rescheduling a tour of Japan that had been slated for November. "The band looks forward to seeing and playing for their fans in 2013," read a brief statement.

Diverticulitis is a digestive disease that occurs when pouches of the inner lining of the intestine, most often in the colon, become inflamed or infected. Symptoms include nausea, vomiting, fever and cramping.

Van Halen also canceled a series of dates earlier this summer. Although there was talk at the time that the musicians weren't getting along, singer David Lee Roth said in a video that the group had simply "bit off more than we could chew," a sentiment Eddie Van Halen echoed in an interview

The band this year released A Different Kind of Truth, Van Halen's first album with David Lee Roth in 28 years.

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