The life and tale of Edward Lodewijk “Eddie” Van Halen is the ultimate fantasy story you’d only expect to happen in a movie. However, Ed is living proof that you can become a self made engineer as far as guitar tech and build a successful life from the ground up.
And that’s exactly what he did.
The presence of him and the multi-platinum band he put together has and continues to impact music forever…
During his childhood, Van Halen grew up in the Netherlands. His father, Jan Van Halen was a clarinetist, saxophonist, and pianist. Born into a family of music, Van Halen was destined for a bright future and little did he know, it was just around the corner.
In 1962, The Van Halen family traveled to the U.S. on a boat and made Pasadena, California their new home. Soon enough him and his brother, Alex Van Halen, began taking piano lessons, but that didn’t inspire either of them enough to stick with it.
It wasn’t until Ed saw The Beatles comedy film, A Hard Day’s Night, when he was truly drawn towards an instrument. That’s right! The world’s greatest guitarist finally grew the will to play…
…the drums.
Not exactly the first thing you’d expect Van Halen to gravitate towards, however songs like The Dave Clark Five‘s Glad All Over affected him and it was the first of many musical connections for Ed.
Although it was Alex who took to the guitar first, his eyes were set on Ed’s kit and quickly surpassed his skills as a drummer. Stripped from his instrument, Ed made the pivotal decision to make the change of a lifetime. He picked up his brother’s guitar and the rest, as you know, is history…
Once Van Halen got hooked into electric guitars, it was an eternal devotion. There was no end to Ed’s 24-hour practice sessions and he was quickly snowballing his way to becoming a talented musician day-by-day.
It’s worth noting that ever since he started playing, Ed never learned how to read music. Therefore, all his tricks and techniques were discovered simply by “winging it.”
Van Halen couldn’t afford the high-end equipment of the day, so he was forced to improvise and squeeze as much sound as possible out of the guitars he could buy. In order to get a fresh tone that identified his own style of play, Ed carved holes out of Stratocasters and manually insert Gibson pickups into them for the sake of having two guitars in one. This is how the iconic Frankenstrat was born among other trademark axes that were performed on stage for many tours throughout several decades.
For a young musician growing up in the early seventies, it was a glorious time to watch and listen. Many major bands had already broken boundaries such as Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, but it was also the dominant era for guitar heroes. The top players making a name for themselves were Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page and Eric Clapton. But Van Halen took particular notice of Clapton along with the rest of Cream.
Ed has admitted to learning each and every Clapton solo note-for-note as a teen. He was a major influence on Van Halen’s playing, prompting him to innovate much in the same way Clapton had in his glory days.
As early as elementary school, both brothers formed a band that would quickly escalate into something more mature. By 1972, they had put together a new lineup of reliable musicians including vocalist David Lee Roth. The group would perform at backyard parties and clubs all around the Los Angeles area, covering rock songs with accuracy and precision.
This continued for almost a decade, slugging it out on the Sunset Strip and playing a wide range of music from ZZ Top to Top 40 Disco hits.
Lucky for the band, KISS‘s Gene Simmons had the pleasure of seeing Van Halen perform in their early days and produced a 28-track demo tape. All of these songs ended up being featured across their first six albums, it was obvious that this young quartet was hard at work trying to write as much music as possible.
In 1978, Van Halen‘s debut was also one of the most important albums in rock history. Their brilliant mix of pop and hard rock defined the band’s classic sound, complete with heavy metal riffs and catchy hooks. It was also the spawn of Ed’s tapping technique which many guitarist would soon implement under their own tool belt.
The band’s first few albums breathed life back into the dying breed of rock as a whole. Before, there was a certain standard being held above the arena rock groups and acts like The Eagles and Steely Dan were abiding by the radio-friendly customs. On the other hand, there were a significant amount of outsiders pushing the envelope such as Judas Priest and Motorhead, but their success didn’t reach the U.S.
The mainstream potential of Van Halen propelled them to success. There were enough melodies to rank on the billboard charts and plenty of state-of-the-art guitar to reel in the hard rock audience. They covered every angle while turning the music industry on its head and kick starting the theme of the 80s.
By 1984, Van Halen were unstoppable. MTV was blowing up and the band was camera ready. Each music video they created became a permanent reflection of their image and charisma. This was also the same time frame where Ed included his first public use of keyboards, an instrument he was beginning to apply into his music more frequently.
What comes next in Van Halen‘s history are a few hardships most of us would rather forget, however from a financial standpoint, the band only triumphed over their previous accomplishments. 1986 was the group’s first album with new singer, Montrose‘s Sammy Hagar. During this era, each and every Van Halen album was No. 1 on the Billboard charts until 1995.
Aside from his primary band, Ed also collaborated with Brain May in a band called Star Fleet Project. Van Halen also contributed the guitar solo in Michael Jackson‘s hit song, Beat It, and refused to accept any payment for reasons explained in his words, “Who would find out if I played on this black kid’s record?”
Throughout the late 90s and early 2000s, Ed suffered from alcoholism which hurt his relationships with close friends and the state of his band. However, he made a remarkable recovery and overcame these personal demons with persistence and willpower. Van Halen is the type of rock star that has seen it all, he’s beyond lucky to have survived the lifestyle during the craziness that was the 80s. Today, Ed is healthy and more confident than ever before.
Heavy Metal/Hard Rock as we know it might not be what it is now without a virtuoso and his band from the streets of Los Angeles. Since he was born, Ed was made for music and became a key role in the evolution of it. Motivated by curiosity, his tinkering and experimentation crafted Van Halen into an undisputed prodigy.
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