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Alex Van Halen

 
Artist: Alex Van Halen
 
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Alex Van Halen

Influenced By:

Bill Ward, John Bonham

Followers:

Tommy Lee, Kai Hansen

Worked With:

Michael Anthony, Eddie Van Halen, Ted Templeman, Donn Landee, David Lee Roth, Sammy Hagar
  • Born: May 08, 1953, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
  • Genres: Rock
  • Instrument: Drums

Biography

In a strange way, we have Alex Van Halen to thank for making his younger brother, Eddie, pick up guitar in the first place. Born May 8, 1953 in Amsterdam, Netherlands, the Van Halen's grew up in the nearby town of Nijmegen. Both Alex and Eddie (who is less than a year younger than Alex) were given strict classical piano lessons at an early age, which resulted in an early appreciation of music -- also inherited from their father, a clarinet player. When Alex was nine, he and his family relocated to California, and soon after, was given a guitar, while Eddie received a drum kit. But (as the famous story goes), when Eddie was out slinging newspapers to pay off the drums, Alex was beating away on them -- so much so, that he soon surpassed Eddie in terms of playing. As a bit of revenge, Eddie took over Alex's guitar, resulting in the brothers swapping instruments. The Van Halen's soon began playing in local bands (influenced by the hard rock outfits of the day, Led Zeppelin, Cream, etc.), one such group being Mammoth. With Eddie also doubling on lead vocals, it was decided that the guitarist should focus solely on his instrument, so a flamboyant chap who lent the Van Halen brothers his P.A., David Lee Roth, was enlisted as the front man, followed by the arrival of bassist Michael Anthony. Soon after changing their name to Van Halen, the group became the toast of the Sunset Strip, eventually landing a recording contract with Warner Bros. in 1977. While it was Alex's brother who gained the majority of the accolades after the quartet's classic debut, Van Halen, was issued a year later, Alex's drum solo soon became a highlight of ensuing tours (especially when they became an arena headliner, and he'd use one of the largest drum kits in all of rock). A string of superb releases followed -- 1979's Van Halen II, 1980's Women and Children First, 1981's Fair Warning, 1982's Diver Down, and 1984's 1984 -- which resulted in Van Halen becoming one of the world's biggest rock acts. But behind the scenes, trouble was brewing. Roth abruptly left the band in 1985, resulting in Alex and the others scrambling to find a suitable replacement. Sammy Hagar got the nod, and what followed was a stream of further hit albums, 1986's 5150, 1988's OU812, 1991's For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge, and 1995's Balance, as the group remained an arena headliner. Come 1996, rumors circulated that Hagar was out and Roth was back in, and the anticipation only grew when a pair of new tracks with Roth appeared on 1996's Best of Van Halen: Vol. 1. As it turned out though, neither Hagar nor Roth were in the group, resulting in the head scratching decision to enlist former Extreme singer Gary Cherone into the band. After one dreadful album, 1998's Van Halen III, Cherone was booted from the band. Since the supporting tour wrapped up, little has been heard from Alex and company. ~ Greg Prato, All Music Guide
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Alex Van Halen
Birth name Alexander Arthur Van Halen
Born May 8, 1953 (1953-05-08) (age 56)
Nijmegen, Netherlands
Genre(s) Hard rock, heavy metal
Instrument(s) Drums, percussion, vocals, keyboards
Years active 1967–present
Label(s) Warner Bros.
Associated acts Van Halen
Website http://www.van-halen.com

Alexander Arthur Van Halen (born May 8, 1953) is a Dutch-American drummer and co-founder of the hard rock band Van Halen.

Originally, his brother Eddie had taken lessons for drums, while Alex practiced guitar. After spending time playing Eddie's drum kit, Alex became more skillful at the drums than Eddie.

In 1974 Alex, Eddie, David Lee Roth and Michael Anthony became known as Van Halen. They were signed to Warner Brothers in 1977 and released their first album in 1978.

Contents

Early life

Alex Van Halen was born in Amsterdam [1], The Netherlands, on May 8, 1953, to Jan Van Halen; a Dutch father, and Eugenia; an Indonesian mother.[1] He spent his childhood in Nijmegen in the east of the country.[2] The family moved to Pasadena, California, USA, in 1962.[1]

Both Alex and Eddie Van Halen were trained as classical pianists in their childhood.[3] 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. When Eddie heard Alex's mastery of the Surfaris drum solo in the song "Wipe Out", he decided to begin learning to play the electric guitar.[2]

In 1971, Alex graduated from Pasadena High School.[2] He then took classes in music theory, scoring, composition and arranging at Pasadena City College for a short while.[2] While attending Pasadena City College, Alex met Michael Anthony and David Lee Roth. They formed the band Mammoth, and Alex, along with the others, left Pasadena City College.[4]

Musical career

Alex had several early bands with Eddie before Van Halen came to be. Names of these previous bands include The Broken Combs, Genesis, The Space Brothers, and The Trojan Rubber Company.[2]

In 1972 Roth, Alex and Eddie formed Mammoth with Mark Stone on bass. Later, in 1974, The name Mammoth was replaced by Van Halen, and Stone was replaced by Michael Anthony. 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, Al was busy handling managerial duties, such as booking gigs, etc. for the band. Their 1978 album Van Halen was released to much fanfare, influencing many musicians in hard rock.

In spite of the fact that the term "brown sound" is generally associated with Eddie's guitar, Alex originated the term to refer to the sound of his snare drum.[5]

At live shows, Alex is known for being an entertainer, performing aggressive drum solos and stage pyrotechnics.

The only non–Van Halen example of Alex's musicianship can be found on the soundtrack to the movie Twister. The instrumental "Respect the Wind" (for which the Van Halen brothers were nominated for a Grammy Award in 1997 for Best Rock Instrumental Performance)[6] features Alex on keyboards (with Eddie on guitar). The song was used for the movie soundtrack Twister and plays during the end credits of the movie.

Personal life

Alex married Valeria Kendall in 1983 after a two-year engagement. The marriage ended in divorce in 1984. Alex has one son, Aric Van Halen, with his ex-wife, Kelly Daniels, whom he divorced in 1996.[citation needed] Alex married his current wife, Stine Schyberg, in 2000. She is the mother of his son Malcolm Van Halen.[citation needed] Alex is the uncle of Wolfgang Van Halen.

Alex has become an ordained minister and presided at his brother Eddie's wedding.

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Alexander Van Halen". http://www.nnp.org/nni/Publications/Dutch-American/halena.html. Retrieved on 1-11 2008. 
  2. ^ a b c d e "Drummerworld: Alex van halen". http://www.drummerworld.com/drummers/Alex_Van_Halen.html. Retrieved on 1-12 2008. 
  3. ^ "Alex Van Halen at DrumSoloArtist". http://www.drumsoloartist.com/Site/Drummers2/Alex_Van_Halen.html. Retrieved on 1-13 2008. 
  4. ^ "Rock and Roll Hall of Fame". http://www.rockhall.com/inductee/van-halen/. Retrieved on 1-18 2008. 
  5. ^ "Alex Van Halen at ClassicVanHalen.com". http://www.classicvanhalen.com/bios_avh.shtml. Retrieved on 3-22 2008. 
  6. ^ "1997 Grammy Nominations from Rock on the Net". http://www.rockonthenet.com/archive/1997/grammys.htm 1997. 
v • d • e
Van Halen
Eddie Van Halen · David Lee Roth · Alex Van Halen · Wolfgang Van Halen
Michael Anthony · Sammy Hagar · Gary Cherone · Mark Stone
Studio albums
Compilations
Live albums
Videos and DVDs
Concert tours
Van Halen World Tour (1978) · World Vacation Tour (1979) · World Invasion "Party 'til You Die Tour" Tour (1980) · Fair Warning Tour (1981) · Hide Your Sheep Tour (1982–1983) · 1984 Tour (1984) · Monsters of Rock Tour 1984 (1984) · 1986 Tour (1986) · Monsters of Rock Tour 1988 (1988) · OU812 Tour (1988–1989) · For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge Tour (1991–1992) · Right Here Right Now Tour (1993) · The Balance "Ambulance" Tour (1995) · III Tour (1998) · Van Halen Summer Tour 2004 (2004) · Van Halen 2007–2008 Tour (2007-08)
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