Biography of alex van halen

Dutch drummer (born 1953)

In this Dutch name, the surname is Van Halen, not Halen.

Musical artist

Alexander Arthur Van Halen (van HAY-len, Dutch:[aːlɛkˈsɑndərvɑnˈɦaːlə(n)]; born May 8, 1953) is a Dutch musician who was the drummer and a co-founder of the rock band Van Halen, which was formed in 1972 by Van Halen and his younger brother Eddie under the name "Mammoth" before adding Michael Anthony and David Lee Roth in 1974 and changing their name to Van Halen.

Warner Bros. signed the grupp 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.

Early life

Van Halen was born in Amsterdam.^[1][3] The family na

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Happy Birthday, Alex Van Halen!

On May 8th, 1953, Alexander Arthur Van Halen was born in Amsterdam Holland. Later the family moved to Nijmegen, where they lived until they moved to the U.S. when Alex was about 9, through a government-incentive program to reunite families.

Because the family spoke little English, Alex and Eddie formed a bond during this time that has lasted their entire lives. Together they adapted to a new country, a new language, and new ideas about music. The brothers still keep a picture of their old Dutch home in the5150 Studio and revisited the house after the recording of Balance. Early on, Alex’s parents, Jan and Eugenia Van Halen impressed upon their sons a love of music that originally meant classical training. Both Alex and Eddie Van Halen were trained as classical pianists in their childhood. Afterward Alex’s teaching consisted of classical guitar. He didn’t take to it, though, and preferred playing his brother’s drums.

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Alex Van Halen doesn’t ‘sugar coat’ complex relationship he had with Eddie in new book ‘Brothers’

If rock music history has taught musicians anything, it is this: Don’t start a band with your sibling. Just ask Oasis co-founders Liam and Noel Gallagher, whose well-documented mutual enmity makes their upcoming reunion tour as much a source of morbid curiosity as of excitement.

However, Van Halen was something different. The powerhouse hard rock band co-founded by Alex and his brother, Eddie, sold over 70 million albums during their nearly four-decade run. It was Alex and Eddie who started the band as teenagers in their Pasadena basement, who recruited locals David Lee Roth and Michael Anthony to join the lineup, and who guided Van Halen into the highest rung of rock stardom . When Eddie, a pathbreaking prodigy who changed the way the electric guitar was played, died of cancer at 65 in 2020, it was not only the end of the band, but also a tight bond that had lifted Van Halen up from