VAN HALEN - VAN HALEN GOES INTO REHAB

VAN HALEN GOES INTO REHAB

Eddie van Halen, lead guitarist with the legendary rock band Van Halen, has gone into rehab.

The announcement on Van Halen's official website confirmed that the 52-year-old was seeking professional help.

In a message to fans, he said he needed to "change for the better" before he could contemplate any more live performances.

"At the moment I do not feel that I can give you my best," Dutch-born Van Halen said.

"That's why I have decided to enter a rehabilitation facility to work on myself, so that in the future I can deliver the 110 per cent that I feel I owe you and want to give you."

Van Halen has had previous battles with alcohol and in the late 1990s underwent treatment for mouth and tongue cancer.

Since forming in 1978, Van Halen the band have sold more than 75 million albums worldwide and are widely considered one of the most influential hard rock groups of the last half century.

News of Eddie van Halen's personal problems follow an announcement that the band's summer tour has been postponed, which will also delay the much-anticipated reunion with former front man David Lee Roth.