Alex Van Halen | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Van Halen performing in 2012 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | Alexander Arthur van Halen (1953-05-08)May 8, 1953 (age 72) |
| Origin | Pasadena, California, U.S. |
| Genres | |
| Occupation | Musician |
| Instrument | Drums |
| Years active | 1962–2020 |
| Formerly of | Van Halen |
| Website | van-halen |
| Relatives | Eddie Van Halen (brother) Wolfgang Van Halen (paternal nephew) |
Alexander Arthur Van Halen (/vænˈheɪlən/vanHAY-len,Dutch:[aːlɛkˈsɑndərvɑnˈɦaːlə(n)]; born May 8, 1953) is an American retired musician who was the drummer and a co-founder of the rock bandVan Halen, which was formed in 1972 by Van Halen and his younger brotherEddie under the name "Mammoth" before addingMichael Anthony andDavid Lee Roth in 1974 and changing their name to Van Halen.
Warner Bros. signed the band in 1977, and the band's debut album was released a year later. Prior to their disbandment in 2020, following Eddie's death,[2] Van Halen released 12 studio albums, and the brothers were the only two constant members of the band. Noted for his technical prowess, speed, and power, Alex Van Halen is widely regarded as one of the greatest drummers of all time.[citation needed]
Van Halen was born inAmsterdam.[1][3] The family name in Dutch isvan Halen (with lower-case 'v') and is pronounced in Dutch as[vɑnˈɦaːlə(n)]. His Dutch father, Jan van Halen (1920–1986), was an accomplishedjazz saxophonist and clarinetist. His mother, Eugenia van Beers (1914–2005), was anIndo (Eurasian) fromRangkasbitung,Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia).[1] Alex spent his early years inNijmegen in the east of the Netherlands.[4] The family moved toPasadena, California, in 1962.[1] TheDutch prefix "van" was capitalized by Alex's parents during the family's immigration[5] to the US. Alex and his brother Eddie became naturalized U.S. citizens.[6]
Both brothers were trained asclassical pianists during childhood.[7] Although Alex is known as a professional drummer, he began his musical aspirations as a guitarist, with his brother Eddie taking up drums.[1] While Eddie was delivering newspapers to pay for his drum kit, Alex would practice playing on them. After spending some time playing Eddie's drum kit, Alex became more skilled than Eddie was as a drummer.[8] After Eddie heard Alex's mastery ofThe Surfaris drum solo in the song "Wipe Out", he decided to learn to play the electric guitar.[4] Alex was influenced byBudgie drummerRay Phillips.[9]
Alex, Eddie and three other boys formed their first band, calling themselves "The Broken Combs", while attending Hamilton Elementary School in Pasadena, in which Alex playedsaxophone.[10] When Eddie was in the fourth grade,[11] they performed at lunchtime at the school.
In 1971, Van Halen graduated fromPasadena High School.[4] He then took classes inmusic theory, scoring, composition and arranging atPasadena City College for a short while.[4] While there, Alex met Michael Anthony and David Lee Roth. They formed the band Mammoth, and Alex, along with the others, left Pasadena City College.[12]
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Alex and Eddie Van Halen had several early bands before the formation of Van Halen. In addition to The Broken Combs, there were The Space Brothers, The Trojan Rubber Company, and Mammoth.[4]
In 1972, the brothers formed Mammoth with Mark Stone on bass and Eddie on lead vocals. The band rented David Lee Roth'sPA system for their shows. Soon after, Eddie became tired of singing lead, and asked Roth to join the band. Later, in 1974, since the name Mammoth was already taken by another band, the name was changed to Van Halen, and Stone was replaced by Michael Anthony.[13] Roth has claimed that it was his idea to rename the band Van Halen, and that he actually named it after Alex. In addition to his musical duties at this time, Alex handled managerial duties, such as booking gigs, and the like for the band. Their 1978 self-titled debut albumVan Halen was released to much fanfare, influencing many musicians inhard rock. Van Halen had released eleven more studio albums since then, and officially disbanded a month after Eddie's death on October 6, 2020.[2]
Although the term "brown sound" is generally associated with Eddie's guitar, it was actually coined by Alex to refer to the sound of hissnare drum.[14]
Alex never recorded any music without his brother being involved, with Michael Anthony saying that "the only person that he plays with is Ed."[15] The only recording Alex has made outside of the band is playing keyboards on the Eddie Van Halen instrumental "Respect the Wind", done for theTwister soundtrack and earning the Van Halen brothers aGrammy Award nomination forBest Rock Instrumental Performance.[16]
In June 2024, Alex auctioned off all of his drum gear he had in storage for decades. This led people to believe that he will no longer be involved in music without his brother Edward on stage with him.[17][18]
Alex released a book calledBrothers on October 22, 2024 and commenced a 3 date promotional tour.[19]
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Van Halen endorsesLudwig drums, pedals and hardware,Paiste cymbals,Remo drumheads andRegal Tip drumsticks. A Paiste endorser since March 1983, Van Halen, in co-operation with Paiste developed a signatureride cymbal—a 2002 24" Big ride—which Paiste introduced at the 2010 WinterNAMM Show. He also had two Ludwig signature snares. Alex has usedRototoms andoctobans in the past as well aselectronic drums and is renowned for using extravagantly sized drum kits that feature an on-fire orchestralgong and fourbass drums, having originally used only two.
Regal Tip created the Alex Van Halen signature drumsticks when he became an endorser.
Van Halen's main influences includeBilly Cobham,Ginger Baker,Keith Moon andJohn Bonham, and he has cited jazz drummerBuddy Rich's work as having an early and lifelong impact.[20]
Van Halen married Valeri Kendall in June 1983, after a two-year engagement. The marriage ended in divorce two months later. In 1984 he married Kelly Carter. Their son Aric Van Halen was born October 6, 1989. The couple divorced in August 1996. Carter was sued by Van Halen in 2013, over her commercial use of the 'Van Halen' surname. The case was settled in 2015.[citation needed]
Van Halen's son Aric was a member of thecross country andtrack and field teams of theUniversity of Colorado,[21] earning all-American honours in both sports,[22][23] and competed in the Olympic trials for thesteeplechase in 2016.[24]
Van Halen married his current wife, Stine Schyberg, in 2000. She is the mother of his son Malcolm Van Halen.[25]
Van Halen is the paternal uncle ofWolfgang Van Halen.[26]
Due to years of playing loud music, he has major hearing loss in both ears. "In 1995 Alex Van Halen complained to his stage engineer Jerry Harvey about it. He could no longer hear the band onstage and was putting his hearing in jeopardy. Harvey built a simple in-ear monitor using two speakers that were originally designed for a pacemaker. He tuned one for bass, the other for treble."[27]
Solo discography
And I think the first band we did put together was a band called The Broken Combs, which was – I played sax and Ed played piano.
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