As posted on the Official Atomic Punks Facebook Page…
It’s with great sadness, shock and a heavy heart that we have to say goodbye to original Atomic Punks founder & guitarist Bart Walsh.
Bart was the driving force behind the band in the early days & we are forever grateful for him & all of his hard work to get this band off the ground. Many people would probably say he was partly responsible in large part for the whole Tribute Band explosion over the last 25 years.
He was also the 1st Atomic Punks guitarist to be taken from us by David Lee Roth for his touring band.
We will all miss him dearly and continue to end our shows with his favorite Van Halen song.
If we know Bart, he’s already putting together the next VH All-Star band in heaven.
RIP Bart, we love ya!
-AP
Scott Patterson of The Atomic Punks adds… “The fact that it was his idea in the first place to play one show with all Van Halen made it all possible. If it weren’t for that, none of this would have existed.”
I just learned of his passing yesterday. Many people were jealous of his success and tried to pull him down. I never saw him with Atomic Punks but did with DLR Band and he did a great job. I think the music industry owes him more credit than he’s been given but the ”’hogs”’ in the industry will never willingly give it to him. He is missed.