Rapid-fire and innovative, the supremely talented guitarist at #4 is a wonder to behold:
Edward Lodewijk "Eddie" Van Halen was born January 26, 1955 in Nijmegen, the Netherlands. He is the lead guitarist and co-founder of the group Van Halen. Allmusic describes him as "undoubtedly one of the most influential, original and talented rock guitarists of the 20th century."
Edward's father, Jan, was a clarinet, saxophone and piano player. At the age of seven, the family moved to Pasadena, California. Eddie and older brother Alex learned to play the piano and learned classical music from a teacher in San Pedro, California. Eventually, Alex began playing the guitar and Eddie bought a drum kit and practiced for hours. When Eddie heard Alex play the drum solo for the song "Wipe Out" by the Surfaris, Eddie was annoyed that his brother had overtaken his ability and decided to learn to play the guitar. He was influenced by Cream, learning to play Eric Clapton's solos note for note. Jimmy Page was another big influence for Van Halen.
Van Halen was originally called Mammoth and included the Van Halen brothers, Mark Stone on bass and lead singer David Lee Roth. The group changed its name to Genesis, until they find out that a group in England already had that name. In 1974, the band replaced Stone with Michael Anthony and finally settled on the name Van Halen.
The group played clubs in Pasadena and Hollywood. They got a big break when they were hired to play at Gazzari's on Sunset Strip in Los Angeles. Van Halen soon became one of the stars of the L.A. music scene, playing at the famous Whisky a Go Go on occasion. Gene Simmons of Kiss saw Van Halen at the Gazzarri in 1976 and produced a demo tape. But Simmons backed out when Kiss management told him the group "had no chance of making it".
In 1977, however, Ted Templeman and Mo Ostin of Warner Brothers Records saw the group at the Starwood in Hollywood and signed Van Halen to a recording contract. The group recorded their debut album at Sunset Sound Recorders in 1977. The album peaked at #19 on the Billboard album chart, but has since become a classic, becoming a Diamond record (10 million units sold). The album included the famous guitar solo "Eruption", which preceded Van Halen's version of the Kinks hit "You Really Got Me", and another fan favorite, "Runnin' with the Devil".
Van Halen opened for Black Sabbath for a year and attracted a considerable following. In 1978, Van Halen II was released, which included the hit "Dance the Night Away". The group released Women and Children First in 1980 and Fair Warning the following year. But Eddie's desire for more serious, complex songs were at odds with Roth's love of more pop songs.
Diver Down was more successful then each of the previous two releases, and Van Halen made the Guinness Book of World Records for the highest-paid single appearance for a group: $1.5 million for a 90-minute performance at the 1983 US Festival. But friction increased between Eddie and Roth.
Eddie approached Gene Simmons of Kiss about the possibility of replacing Ace Frehley. Simmons and brother Alex persuaded Eddie to stay with Van Halen. In 1982, producer Quincy Jones invited Eddie to play the guitar solo for Michael Jackson's song "Beat It".
Eddie had just built his own recording studio, 5150 Studios, and Van Halen recorded the album 1984. "Jump" became one of The Top 100 Songs of the Rock Era* and was nominated for a Grammy. The album also included "Panama" and "I'll Wait", and was well-received by fans and critics, peaking at #2 behind Thriller by Michael Jackson.
Despite the great success of 1984, the tour sharpened differences and the band broke up. But really, it was only Roth that was gone, and Sammy Hagar replaced Roth in July, 1985. Hagar sang lead and played rhythm guitar on the albums 5150, OU812, For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge and Balance. For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge won a Grammy for Best Hard Rock Performance with Vocal and all four albums reached #1, something never achieved with Roth. 5150 contained "Why Can't This Be Love", "Dreams" and "Love Walks In". Van Halen's 1986 Tour was filmed and released as Live Without a Net.
"When It's Love" became another big hit in 1988, reaching #5. In 1995, Van Halen opened for Bon Jovi on a stadium tour of Europe.
However, tensions increased between Hagar and the Van Halen Brothers as again Eddie and Alex wanted more complex lyrics. Work was underway on a compilation album and Hagar was reluctant to work on a "Best of" package until a new album came out, and didn't want a compilation that included both his and Roth's work as lead vocalist.
There are varied accounts about how Hagar left the group, but original lead singer David Lee Roth came back and did two new songs with the group for the album Best of Volume 1, but the reunion was short-lived--Roth left again after a couple of months.
Van Halen held auditions for the new lead and chose Gary Cherone, former front man for Extreme. The Van Halen III album, however, was not well received, selling just a million copies, a low by Van Halen standards. The group went into the studio in 1999 to record several songs but the project was unfinished and Cherone too departed.
In 1999, Eddie had to have hip replacement surgery, the result of his many acrobatic acts on stage. In 2001, Eddie confirmed that he had also been undergoing treatments for tongue cancer. But Eddie's health problems prevented the group from sustained recording or touring and the band was dropped from Warner Brothers.
Eddie's only live performances during this time were when he joined Mountain on stage in 2002 and what was to be a private audience jam at NAMM in 2003. Eddie, however, showed up late and intoxicated, and spent most of his time talking to the audience, most of which was incoherent. As a result of this embarrassing incident, Peavey Guitars dropped Eddie from their roster and ceased making EVH signature products.
In 2003, Hagar began working with the Van Halen's and in March, 2004, the group announced that Hagar would reunite with the band for a compilation release and a Summer concert tour of the United States. The Summer tour grossed nearly $55 million but reviews were mixed. Afterwards, things broke down and both Hagar and Anthony admitted that Eddie had alcohol problems.
Hagar returned to solo work and Anthony joined him for a tour. Eddie appeared at the Elton John Academy Awards party in 2004 and in December, Eddie donated the black and yellow guitar featured on the Van Halen II album at "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott's funeral, saying it was always a favorite of Dimebag's. The Van Halen brothers joined Kenny Chesney onstage in 2006 and Eddie performed in July at the House of Petals in Los Angeles.
In 2007, Van Halen was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Eddie's wife, Valerie Bertinelli, filed for divorce and in 2007, Eddie entered rehabilitation for alcohol use. In September, the group reunited with Roth for a tour of the U.S., originally to be 25 dates. But the tour went off very well and a second leg was added in 2008. The reunion tour was the highest grossing in Van Halen history, bringing in almost $93 million. In 2009, Eddie and Janie Liszewski were married at his Studio City estate. In 2011, Eddie attended the winter NAMM Show to present his new Wolfgang guitars.
Van Halen entered the studio again on January 17, 2011 for work on the group's first studio album since 1998. It would be the first full-length album to feature Roth in over 27 years. A Different Kind of Truth was released on February 7, 2012.
Eddie has left a lasting influence on numerous guitarists. He is one of the most skilled and innovative guitarists ever Van Halen is famous of the use of two-handed tapping, natural and artificial harmonics, vibrato and tremolo picking. His sense of melody and rhythm are refreshing, and Eddie's use of both has challenged current guitarists. Eddie's unbelievable solo on "Eruption" (the prelude to "You Really Got Me") was voted #2 of all-time when Guitar World magazine polled readers on The 100 Greatest Guitar Solos.
"Eruption" showcased the tapping technique, which required both left and right hands on the guitar neck. Van Halen will also hold the pick between his thumb and middle finger, leaving the index finger free for tapping. Eddie holds a patent for a flip-out support device which attaches to the rear of the guitar, which orients the face of the guitar upward rather than forward.
Van Halen achieved his distinctive tone by using the EVH "Frankenstrat" guitar, a 100-watt Marshall amp, a Variac (used to lower the voltage of the amp to change the tone) and effects such as an Echoplex, an MXR Phase 90, a MXR Flanger and EQ's.
Also, Eddie tuned his guitar to flat E, or "Hendrix's tuning". The open G and B provided a justly intonated third, almost unheard of in distorted-guitar rock and allowed Van Halen to use major chords not previously featured in the genre. When run through a distorted amplifier, the major third on a conventionally-tuned guitar sounded distracting and almost dissonant. Before Van Halen, most metal rock avoided the use of that major third.
Eddie used a volume technique in the instrumental "Cathedral". He hit notes on the fretboard with one hand while rolling the volume knob with the other. This changed the attack and decay of the notes so they resembled the sound of keyboards. This "volume swells" sound was originally popularized by progressive rock groups like Genesis, Focus, Yes and Rush but was performed with a volume pedal, at a slower pace. Thus, Van Halen achieved the same sound much easier and with better results.
Van Halen built his Frankenstrat guitar using a Boogie Bodies factory 2nd body and neck and a single vintage Gibson PAF humbucker pickup sealed in molten surfboard was done at home in a coffee can to reduce microphonic feedback. Eddie installed the humbucker in the bridge position. Eventually, he repainted the guitar with Frankenstein artwork, changed the neck, removed part of the pick guard and installed a Floyd Rose vibrato unit.
In 1979, Eddie began playing a black, rear-loaded Charvel. Charvel later produced that model, along with the Frankenstrat and the red, white and black model as the EVH Art Series Guitars. Van Halen also played an Ibanez Destroyer and in 1983, began using a variation of the Kramer Pacer guitar with a hockey-stick headstock, which became known as the "5150". He had a Floyd Rose vibrato on it and included his art work.
Van Halen has also used a Steinberger GL-2T guitar and an EVH signature "Music Man" guitar from Ernie Ball. Eddie named his Peavy signature Wolfgang guitars after his son, Wolfgang. These guitars included a "D-Tuna", which allowed the guitarist to tune the low E string down to D with the turn of a knob.
Recently, Eddie has worked with Fender to produce a replica of the Frankenstrat. Fender produces the EVH brand of amps and musical instrument equipment, beginning with the EVH Brand 5150 III amplifier.
In his early years, Eddie used a 100-watt Marshall. For Van Halen's debut album, Eddie used a Celestion speaker cabinet. From the mid-1980's, Eddie has used the Master/Slave slaving amplifier setup, using a Tube Amplifier and a H&H MOSFET power amplifier. When Eddie and Peavey had an arrangement, Van Halen used the 5150 Amplifiers, which he partially designed.
Van Halen used the Original, Script-Logo MXR Phase 90, the MXR Flanger, a Six-Band Graphic Equalizer, Two Maestro Echoplexes and the Univox EC-80 Echo.
The Floyd Rose Locking Tremolo was released in 1977. Van Halen collaborated with Floyd Rose on improvements to the Tremolo. Eddie also pioneered mainstream use of the TransTrem system, which allows for the effect of an instant "capo", increasing the pitch of all strings by up to a minor third or lowering the pitch by as much as a perfect fourth.
Eddie has worked with several other artists away from the group Van Halen. In addition to his famous guitar work on "Beat It", Eddie collaborated with Brian May of Queen on the Star Fleet Project in 1983, recorded several instrumentals for the movie The Wild Life, provided the score for the television movie The Seduction of Gina and played bass on Sammy Hagar's solo album I Never Said Goodbye in 1987. Eddie also played bass on Steve Lukather's debut album in 1989, co-wrote and played a song with Tony Iommi and other Black Sabbath members on the Cross Purposes album and done soundtrack work for the movies Over the Top, Twister, Back to the Future and Lethal Weapon 4, performed guitar solos on Roger Waters' work in the movie The Legend of 1900.
Eddie received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his expertise on the guitar. The star is located right next to that of Jimi Hendrix.
Eddie doesn't just play guitar. It is part of his body, and the emotion comes right through it. If you can make a minute and 42 second long solo of pure shredding that is recognized everywhere ("Eruption") that is special. Eddie is going out on another tour, giving fans one more shot at seeing the #4 Guitarist of the Rock Era*...Eddie Van Halen.
#4: Eddie Van Halen, Van Halen
45 years as an active guitarist
("Eruption")
Edward Lodewijk "Eddie" Van Halen was born January 26, 1955 in Nijmegen, the Netherlands. He is the lead guitarist and co-founder of the group Van Halen. Allmusic describes him as "undoubtedly one of the most influential, original and talented rock guitarists of the 20th century."
Edward's father, Jan, was a clarinet, saxophone and piano player. At the age of seven, the family moved to Pasadena, California. Eddie and older brother Alex learned to play the piano and learned classical music from a teacher in San Pedro, California. Eventually, Alex began playing the guitar and Eddie bought a drum kit and practiced for hours. When Eddie heard Alex play the drum solo for the song "Wipe Out" by the Surfaris, Eddie was annoyed that his brother had overtaken his ability and decided to learn to play the guitar. He was influenced by Cream, learning to play Eric Clapton's solos note for note. Jimmy Page was another big influence for Van Halen.
Van Halen was originally called Mammoth and included the Van Halen brothers, Mark Stone on bass and lead singer David Lee Roth. The group changed its name to Genesis, until they find out that a group in England already had that name. In 1974, the band replaced Stone with Michael Anthony and finally settled on the name Van Halen.
The group played clubs in Pasadena and Hollywood. They got a big break when they were hired to play at Gazzari's on Sunset Strip in Los Angeles. Van Halen soon became one of the stars of the L.A. music scene, playing at the famous Whisky a Go Go on occasion. Gene Simmons of Kiss saw Van Halen at the Gazzarri in 1976 and produced a demo tape. But Simmons backed out when Kiss management told him the group "had no chance of making it".
In 1977, however, Ted Templeman and Mo Ostin of Warner Brothers Records saw the group at the Starwood in Hollywood and signed Van Halen to a recording contract. The group recorded their debut album at Sunset Sound Recorders in 1977. The album peaked at #19 on the Billboard album chart, but has since become a classic, becoming a Diamond record (10 million units sold). The album included the famous guitar solo "Eruption", which preceded Van Halen's version of the Kinks hit "You Really Got Me", and another fan favorite, "Runnin' with the Devil".
Van Halen opened for Black Sabbath for a year and attracted a considerable following. In 1978, Van Halen II was released, which included the hit "Dance the Night Away". The group released Women and Children First in 1980 and Fair Warning the following year. But Eddie's desire for more serious, complex songs were at odds with Roth's love of more pop songs.
Diver Down was more successful then each of the previous two releases, and Van Halen made the Guinness Book of World Records for the highest-paid single appearance for a group: $1.5 million for a 90-minute performance at the 1983 US Festival. But friction increased between Eddie and Roth.
Eddie approached Gene Simmons of Kiss about the possibility of replacing Ace Frehley. Simmons and brother Alex persuaded Eddie to stay with Van Halen. In 1982, producer Quincy Jones invited Eddie to play the guitar solo for Michael Jackson's song "Beat It".
Eddie had just built his own recording studio, 5150 Studios, and Van Halen recorded the album 1984. "Jump" became one of The Top 100 Songs of the Rock Era* and was nominated for a Grammy. The album also included "Panama" and "I'll Wait", and was well-received by fans and critics, peaking at #2 behind Thriller by Michael Jackson.
Despite the great success of 1984, the tour sharpened differences and the band broke up. But really, it was only Roth that was gone, and Sammy Hagar replaced Roth in July, 1985. Hagar sang lead and played rhythm guitar on the albums 5150, OU812, For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge and Balance. For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge won a Grammy for Best Hard Rock Performance with Vocal and all four albums reached #1, something never achieved with Roth. 5150 contained "Why Can't This Be Love", "Dreams" and "Love Walks In". Van Halen's 1986 Tour was filmed and released as Live Without a Net.
"When It's Love" became another big hit in 1988, reaching #5. In 1995, Van Halen opened for Bon Jovi on a stadium tour of Europe.
However, tensions increased between Hagar and the Van Halen Brothers as again Eddie and Alex wanted more complex lyrics. Work was underway on a compilation album and Hagar was reluctant to work on a "Best of" package until a new album came out, and didn't want a compilation that included both his and Roth's work as lead vocalist.
There are varied accounts about how Hagar left the group, but original lead singer David Lee Roth came back and did two new songs with the group for the album Best of Volume 1, but the reunion was short-lived--Roth left again after a couple of months.
Van Halen held auditions for the new lead and chose Gary Cherone, former front man for Extreme. The Van Halen III album, however, was not well received, selling just a million copies, a low by Van Halen standards. The group went into the studio in 1999 to record several songs but the project was unfinished and Cherone too departed.
In 1999, Eddie had to have hip replacement surgery, the result of his many acrobatic acts on stage. In 2001, Eddie confirmed that he had also been undergoing treatments for tongue cancer. But Eddie's health problems prevented the group from sustained recording or touring and the band was dropped from Warner Brothers.
Eddie's only live performances during this time were when he joined Mountain on stage in 2002 and what was to be a private audience jam at NAMM in 2003. Eddie, however, showed up late and intoxicated, and spent most of his time talking to the audience, most of which was incoherent. As a result of this embarrassing incident, Peavey Guitars dropped Eddie from their roster and ceased making EVH signature products.
In 2003, Hagar began working with the Van Halen's and in March, 2004, the group announced that Hagar would reunite with the band for a compilation release and a Summer concert tour of the United States. The Summer tour grossed nearly $55 million but reviews were mixed. Afterwards, things broke down and both Hagar and Anthony admitted that Eddie had alcohol problems.
Hagar returned to solo work and Anthony joined him for a tour. Eddie appeared at the Elton John Academy Awards party in 2004 and in December, Eddie donated the black and yellow guitar featured on the Van Halen II album at "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott's funeral, saying it was always a favorite of Dimebag's. The Van Halen brothers joined Kenny Chesney onstage in 2006 and Eddie performed in July at the House of Petals in Los Angeles.
In 2007, Van Halen was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Eddie's wife, Valerie Bertinelli, filed for divorce and in 2007, Eddie entered rehabilitation for alcohol use. In September, the group reunited with Roth for a tour of the U.S., originally to be 25 dates. But the tour went off very well and a second leg was added in 2008. The reunion tour was the highest grossing in Van Halen history, bringing in almost $93 million. In 2009, Eddie and Janie Liszewski were married at his Studio City estate. In 2011, Eddie attended the winter NAMM Show to present his new Wolfgang guitars.
Van Halen entered the studio again on January 17, 2011 for work on the group's first studio album since 1998. It would be the first full-length album to feature Roth in over 27 years. A Different Kind of Truth was released on February 7, 2012.
Van Halen has sold 75 million albums and rank 19th in the United States with 56 million in sales. They are one of only five rock bands with two albums selling over 10 million copies.
(Solo from 1985...)
"Eruption" showcased the tapping technique, which required both left and right hands on the guitar neck. Van Halen will also hold the pick between his thumb and middle finger, leaving the index finger free for tapping. Eddie holds a patent for a flip-out support device which attaches to the rear of the guitar, which orients the face of the guitar upward rather than forward.
Van Halen achieved his distinctive tone by using the EVH "Frankenstrat" guitar, a 100-watt Marshall amp, a Variac (used to lower the voltage of the amp to change the tone) and effects such as an Echoplex, an MXR Phase 90, a MXR Flanger and EQ's.
Also, Eddie tuned his guitar to flat E, or "Hendrix's tuning". The open G and B provided a justly intonated third, almost unheard of in distorted-guitar rock and allowed Van Halen to use major chords not previously featured in the genre. When run through a distorted amplifier, the major third on a conventionally-tuned guitar sounded distracting and almost dissonant. Before Van Halen, most metal rock avoided the use of that major third.
Eddie used a volume technique in the instrumental "Cathedral". He hit notes on the fretboard with one hand while rolling the volume knob with the other. This changed the attack and decay of the notes so they resembled the sound of keyboards. This "volume swells" sound was originally popularized by progressive rock groups like Genesis, Focus, Yes and Rush but was performed with a volume pedal, at a slower pace. Thus, Van Halen achieved the same sound much easier and with better results.
Van Halen built his Frankenstrat guitar using a Boogie Bodies factory 2nd body and neck and a single vintage Gibson PAF humbucker pickup sealed in molten surfboard was done at home in a coffee can to reduce microphonic feedback. Eddie installed the humbucker in the bridge position. Eventually, he repainted the guitar with Frankenstein artwork, changed the neck, removed part of the pick guard and installed a Floyd Rose vibrato unit.
In 1979, Eddie began playing a black, rear-loaded Charvel. Charvel later produced that model, along with the Frankenstrat and the red, white and black model as the EVH Art Series Guitars. Van Halen also played an Ibanez Destroyer and in 1983, began using a variation of the Kramer Pacer guitar with a hockey-stick headstock, which became known as the "5150". He had a Floyd Rose vibrato on it and included his art work.
Van Halen has also used a Steinberger GL-2T guitar and an EVH signature "Music Man" guitar from Ernie Ball. Eddie named his Peavy signature Wolfgang guitars after his son, Wolfgang. These guitars included a "D-Tuna", which allowed the guitarist to tune the low E string down to D with the turn of a knob.
Recently, Eddie has worked with Fender to produce a replica of the Frankenstrat. Fender produces the EVH brand of amps and musical instrument equipment, beginning with the EVH Brand 5150 III amplifier.
In his early years, Eddie used a 100-watt Marshall. For Van Halen's debut album, Eddie used a Celestion speaker cabinet. From the mid-1980's, Eddie has used the Master/Slave slaving amplifier setup, using a Tube Amplifier and a H&H MOSFET power amplifier. When Eddie and Peavey had an arrangement, Van Halen used the 5150 Amplifiers, which he partially designed.
Van Halen used the Original, Script-Logo MXR Phase 90, the MXR Flanger, a Six-Band Graphic Equalizer, Two Maestro Echoplexes and the Univox EC-80 Echo.
The Floyd Rose Locking Tremolo was released in 1977. Van Halen collaborated with Floyd Rose on improvements to the Tremolo. Eddie also pioneered mainstream use of the TransTrem system, which allows for the effect of an instant "capo", increasing the pitch of all strings by up to a minor third or lowering the pitch by as much as a perfect fourth.
Eddie has worked with several other artists away from the group Van Halen. In addition to his famous guitar work on "Beat It", Eddie collaborated with Brian May of Queen on the Star Fleet Project in 1983, recorded several instrumentals for the movie The Wild Life, provided the score for the television movie The Seduction of Gina and played bass on Sammy Hagar's solo album I Never Said Goodbye in 1987. Eddie also played bass on Steve Lukather's debut album in 1989, co-wrote and played a song with Tony Iommi and other Black Sabbath members on the Cross Purposes album and done soundtrack work for the movies Over the Top, Twister, Back to the Future and Lethal Weapon 4, performed guitar solos on Roger Waters' work in the movie The Legend of 1900.
Eddie received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his expertise on the guitar. The star is located right next to that of Jimi Hendrix.
Eddie doesn't just play guitar. It is part of his body, and the emotion comes right through it. If you can make a minute and 42 second long solo of pure shredding that is recognized everywhere ("Eruption") that is special. Eddie is going out on another tour, giving fans one more shot at seeing the #4 Guitarist of the Rock Era*...Eddie Van Halen.
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