(Special Report)

Written by: Jake Beach  

Eddie Van Halen’s legacy as one of rock’s most revolutionary guitarists remains as powerful as the two-handed tapping technique that made him famous. On what would have been his 71st birthday, Soundwave music media remembers the guitar god.

Edward Lodewijk Van Halen, born January 26, 1955, co-founded Van Halen and transformed how the electric guitar could be played. Before his death from cancer on October 6, 2020, at age 65, the Dutch-American musician helped the band sell more than 80 million albums worldwide and influenced generations of guitarists with innovations that became standard in rock and metal.

Sources differ on Van Halen’s exact birthplace; some cite Amsterdam, others the nearby city of Nijmegen, but all agree the family immigrated to the United States in 1962, settling in Pasadena, California. His father, Jan Van Halen, was an accomplished jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, and pianist; his mother, Eugenia, was of mixed Indonesian and Dutch heritage from the former Dutch East Indies.

In Pasadena, Jan worked as a janitor while playing music at local venues, and Eugenia cleaned houses. The brothers faced bullying as non-English-speaking immigrant children, but found refuge in music. Jan pushed his sons toward classical piano training. Eddie became so proficient that he won annual piano recital contests from 1964 to 1967, though he never learned to sight-read; instead, he improvised during performances.

As teenagers, both brothers gravitated toward rock music, influenced by British Invasion bands like The Beatles and the Dave Clark Five, as well as Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, and Jimi Hendrix. Eddie’s older brother Alex, born May 8, 1953, became his lifelong musical partner. The brothers famously switched instruments. Alex had started on guitar while Eddie bought a drum kit after Eddie heard Alex master The Surfaris’ drum solo on “Wipe Out.” Eddie handed over the drums and picked up the electric guitar.

They formed their first band, The Broken Combs, in 1964, performing at lunchtime at Hamilton Elementary School. After several iterations, including a group called Mammoth formed in 1972, the band added vocalist David Lee Roth and bassist Michael Anthony in 1974 and changed its name to Van Halen.

After years of building a following in Los Angeles clubs, Van Halen caught the attention of Kiss bassist Gene Simmons, who financed their first demo recording in 1976. Warner Bros. Records signed the band in 1977.

Their self-titled debut album, released February 10, 1978, marked a watershed moment in rock music. The album peaked at No. 19 on the Billboard 200 and eventually sold more than 10 million copies in the United States, earning Diamond certification by the RIAA in 1996. Eddie Van Halen’s groundbreaking two-handed tapping technique, prominently featured on the 102-second instrumental “Eruption,” revolutionized guitar playing and inspired countless imitators throughout the 1980s.

The debut featured hits including “Runnin’ with the Devil,” “Ain’t Talkin’ ’Bout Love,” and a cover of the Kinks’ “You Really Got Me.” The combination of Eddie’s technical virtuosity and Roth’s flamboyant showmanship proved commercially irresistible, establishing Van Halen as one of the hardest-working and most profitable acts of the era.

Van Halen’s influence extended beyond technique to tone and equipment modification. He developed what became known as the “brown sound,” a warm, harmonically rich distortion that guitarists have sought to replicate for decades, though Van Halen later said the term originally referred to his brother Alex’s snare drum sound. His custom-built “Frankenstein” guitar, assembled from various parts and painted with distinctive red, white, and black stripes, became one of rock’s most iconic instruments. Van Halen held three U.S. patents, including one granted in 1987 for a flip-out guitar support device.

Critics and fellow musicians praised Van Halen’s musicality as much as his technical prowess. His classical piano training informed melodic solos that incorporated elements of jazz and blues. Guitar World magazine readers voted him the greatest guitarist of all time in 2012, while Rolling Stone ranked him fourth on its 2023 list of the “250 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.”

Between 1978 and 1982, Van Halen released five consecutive albums that all achieved platinum status: Van Halen II (1979), Women and Children First (1980), Fair Warning (1981), and Diver Down (1982). But the band’s commercial peak came with 1984, their sixth studio album.

Released January 9, 1984, the album peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard 200, kept from the top spot by Michael Jackson’s Thriller, which featured Eddie’s guitar solo on “Beat It.” The album spawned four hit singles: “Jump,” the band’s only No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100; “Panama” and “I’ll Wait,” which both reached No. 13; and “Hot for Teacher.” The album eventually sold more than 10 million copies in the United States, earning Diamond certification and becoming Van Halen’s second Diamond album alongside their debut.

Van Halen’s innovations influenced the hair metal movement of the 1980s and generations of guitarists, including Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, and John Petrucci. The two-handed tapping technique he popularized became standard in rock and metal guitar playing. The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007.

Behind the success, Van Halen battled alcohol and drug addiction for years. He began drinking at age 12 and later said he needed alcohol to function. After entering rehabilitation in 2007, he remained sober from 2008 until his death, according to a 2015 interview.

His health challenges mounted in the 1990s. He underwent hip replacement surgery in 1999 after years of acrobatic stage performances took their toll. In 2000, he was treated for tongue cancer, which required the removal of a third of his tongue. He later battled throat and lung cancer.

Van Halen married actress Valerie Bertinelli in 1981; their son Wolfgang was born in 1990. The couple divorced in 2006. In 2009, Van Halen married Janie Liszewski, the band’s publicist and a stuntwoman.

Wolfgang replaced bassist Michael Anthony in Van Halen in 2006, joining his father and uncle in the family band. He played on the band’s final studio album, A Different Kind of Truth (2012), and toured with Van Halen through their final show at the Hollywood Bowl on October 4, 2015.

Van Halen died on October 6, 2020, at Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, surrounded by his wife Janie, his son Wolfgang, his ex-wife Valerie Bertinelli, and his brother Alex. Following his father’s death, Wolfgang announced that Van Halen would not continue. “You can’t have Van Halen without Eddie Van Halen,” he said on The Howard Stern Show. Wolfgang has since pursued his own musical career, releasing his debut solo album, Mammoth WVH, in 2021 as a tribute to his father.

From his family’s arrival in Pasadena with “approximately $50 and a piano,” as he once recalled, to his status as one of rock’s most influential guitarists, Edward Lodewijk Van Halen embodied the immigrant success story. His two-handed tapping technique, signature tone, and melodic sensibility redefined rock guitar and influenced generations of musicians.

The band he co-founded sold more than 80 million albums worldwide and achieved 13 No. 1 hits on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart, helping establish Los Angeles as hard rock’s capital during the 1980s. Van Halen released 12 studio albums between 1978 and 2012, with two achieving Diamond certification, a rare feat in rock music.

Van Halen’s legacy extends beyond technical achievement to encompass his role in reshaping the sound and possibilities of modern rock music. On what would have been his 71st birthday, his influence continues to resonate through countless guitarists who have adopted his techniques and through the enduring popularity of the music he created.

Speaking at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History in 2015, Van Halen reflected on his journey: “We came here with approximately $50 and a piano, and we didn’t speak the language. Now look where we are. If that’s not the American dream, what is?”

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