Eddie Van Halen
Eddie Van Halen
Eddie Van Halen at the 1993 Emmy Awards
Background information
Birth name
Edward Lodewijk Van Halen
Born
January 26, 1955
(1955-01-26)
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Genre(s)
Rock, hard rock, heavy metal
Occupation(s) Musician, songwriter
Instrument(s) Guitar, Bass, keyboards,
piano, vocals
Years active
1967–present
Label(s)
Warner Bros.
Associated
acts
Van Halen
Website
www.van-halen.com
Notable instrument(s)
"Frankenstrat"
Music Man signature model
Peavey Wolfgang
Charvel EVH model
Edward Lodewijk "Eddie" Van Halen
(born January 26, 1955), is a Dutch-American
guitarist, keyboardist, songwriter and produ-
cer, best known as the lead guitarist and co-
founder of the hard rock band Van Halen.
Van Halen is widely known for his rapid gui-
tar playing, tapping, and high frequency
feedback. The All Music Guide has called him
"undoubtedly one of the most influential, ori-
ginal, and talented rock guitarists of the 20th
century."[1]
Biography
Childhood
Edward Lodewijk Van Halen is a son of saxo-
phonist/clarinetist father Jan Van Halen and
mother Eugenia. Eugenia Van Halen was ori-
ginally
from Java,
Indonesia. Edward’s
middle name was named after composer Lud-
wig van Beethoven. (Lodewijk is the Dutch
version of Ludwig.) Edward continued this
naming tradition by naming his son Wolfgang
Van Halen
after
composer Wolfgang
Amadeus Mozart. Shortly after Edward was
born in Amsterdam, the family moved to the
city of Nijmegen. In 1962, at the age of sev-
en, Edward moved with his family to the Un-
ited States, settling in Pasadena, California.
Eddie learned to play the piano as a child
and has won many different talent shows. His
older brother Alex also played the piano.
However, playing the piano did not prove suf-
ficiently engaging — he once said in an inter-
view, "Who wants to sit in front of the piano?
That’s boring." Consequently, while Alex
began playing the guitar, Eddie bought a
drum kit and began practicing drumming
along with Arty Gomez in Lincoln Heights.
After Eddie heard Alex’s performanc