Van Halen, history of a legend
Born in Amsterdam in 1955, Eddie Van Halen is considered as one of the founders of heavy metal and one of the best guitarists of all time thanks to his characteristic tapping.
Both Eddie and his brother Alex developed a very early passion for music greatly influenced by their father, Jan, who is clarinetist, saxophonist, and pianist. In 1962 the Van Halen family moved to California and the brothers began to show a notable interest in drums and guitar, captivated by rock n roll.
Eric Clapton and the song “I'm so Glad” by the group Cream were some of the guitarist's main influences. The brothers founded the band in 1972, but it wasn't known as Van Halen until 1974.
Five years after its foundation, the record company Warner Bros. Records offered them their first recording contract and a year later, in 1978 they released their debut album, Van Halen. The album, titled the same as the band reached only number 19 in the United States, still having sold more than 11 million copies worldwide. This first album contained, according to Guitar World magazine, the second best guitar solo of all time, the instrumental song Eruption.
In 1984 the band would release one of their most popular albums titled like that same year, written in Roman numerals MCMLXXXIV. It would be the last album in which David Lee Roth would be the lead singer of the band. Van Halen's 1984 contained the song Jump, considered one of the best and most popular rock songs of the 80s. From there the band did not stop reaping success after success. In January 2007 the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
But not all were successes in Eddie's life, as he had said on several occasions, he fought for a long time on his life against drugs and alcoholism as many artists of the genre unfortunately do. He began at a young age, at the age of twelve, to consume alcohol in order to cope with his career in music.
As a result of his stunts, performances and lifestyle, Eddie suffered various health problems over the years, hip surgery, osteonecrosis, diverticulitis ... and finally throat cancer that unfortunately cost him his life on the 6th of October 2020.
Eddie Van Halen, forever a legend.
See you soon,
