Eddie Van Halen

During the late 70’s to the 80’s you couldn't escape the crushing volume of Van Halen. No matter where you looked or what station you listened to, there was some sort of inclusion of Van Halen. Van Halen is an American Rock band that has dominated the rock genre for decades. This is because of the help of Eddie Van Halen, the guitarist who changed guitar playing. 

Eddie Van Halen was born in Amsterdam on January 26th, 1955, and moved to the U.S. in 1962. As a kid, Eddie and his brother Alex were heavily invested in music. Their first taste of music was with piano lessons. Eddie specifically didn't read music and instead watched recitals and improvised. This style of playing was unique and ended up winning him first place in an annual piano competition at Long Beach City College. A young Eddie only became more immersed in music after listening to rock bands at the time like The Beatles. As a teen, Alex would spend his time practicing guitar, walking around the house or just locked in his bedroom. Later down the road, Eddie and his brother Alex had formed a band called Mammoth, where a few years later David Lee Roth would join. After workshopping a new name, they landed on Van Halen.

After playing countless small venues and playing at concerts for money, some luck would shine on them, and they were invited to record an album that completely changed their lives. Van Halen’s Van Halen (1978) was released and eventually made it to No.19 on the Billboard pop music charts. This had been Rock’s most commercially successful release. Eventually, during the early 80’s, a new album was released, 1984 (1984). The album had blown minds with Eddie's guitar work as well as his iconic keyboard playing on the track “Jump.” This song was the band's only No.1 pop hit and earned them a Grammy. Years later in 2019, the band ranked 20th on the RIAA list for best-selling artists. 

Eddie, over the years, had worked on some stuff with other bands, enjoying the process of music-making the entire time. Eddie has collaborated with Gene Simmons (Kiss bassist), Brian May (Queen’s guitarist), Black Sabbath, as well as Michael Jackson! Eddie contributed to Michael Jackson's “Beat It” with the iconic guitar solo. Eddie’s guitar is also famous for its iconic design of red, black, and white stripes all overlapping each other. 

After years and years of guitar playing and crushing domination in the genre, Eddie Van Halen died in 2019 while battling throat cancer. He officially passed on October 6th, 2020, where he was surrounded by loved ones. Eddie Van Halen had inspired countless people with his guitar playing, charisma, as well as his stage presence.