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Second to only Jimi Hendrix, Eddie Van
Halen was undoubtedly one of the most influential, original, and
talented rock guitarists of the 20th century. Born Edward Lodewijk
Van Halen on January 26, 1955, in the Netherlands, Van Halen moved
with his family to the U.S. in the '60s. He and his older brother,
Alex, began taking piano lessons at an early age, which planted
the seeds for both of the siblings' future musical career. Mesmerized
by the British Invasion rock movement (especially the Dave Clark
Five), Eddie began playing the drums, while Alex took up guitar.
The brothers switched their respective instruments shortly thereafter
(while Eddie was out working a paper route trying to make his
drum kit's payments, Alex was bashing away at his drums, until
he was actually better than Eddie) — as such, hard rock guitarists
as Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page soon influenced the youngest Van
Halen's playing.
The Van Halen brothers began playing backyard parties and clubs
in the Los Angeles area (mixing covers with originals), and eventually
hooked up with singer David Lee Roth and bassist Michael Anthony
in the early '70s, as the group Mammoth. It was around this time
that Eddie began employing a new skill to his guitar playing,
the 'two-handed tap' technique, which would soon become his trademark
(and infinitely copied by other players). With his awesome speed
and tasty phrasing, Eddie quickly became the top guitarist on
the local music scene, as the group changed their name by the
mid-'70s to simply Van Halen. Eddie also began custom building
his own guitars, while using the shape of a Fender Stratocaster,
he would cover the body of his guitar in strips of tape to create
a wild design that would become another trademark of his. Van
Halen signed to Warner Bros. in 1977, which issued the band's
classic self-titled debut a year later, starting off a string
of multi-platinum albums and sold out tours. Ed immediately began
being recognized as the best rock guitarist, he won numerous poll
awards from all the world's guitar magazines (Guitar Player, Guitar
World, etc.), something that would become a yearly occurrence.
Besides guitar, Ed broadened his horizons by adding keyboards
to the band's sound (resulting in their 1984 number one hit "Jump"),
as well as singing lead on select tracks (1998's "How Many Say
I"). And despite going through several singers throughout their
career (Roth, Sammy Hagar, and Gary Cherone), Van Halen's popularity
persevered. In addition to playing on Van Halen albums, Ed has
also appeared on other artist's recordings — his most famous being
an uncredited solo on Michael Jackson's 1983 monster hit, "Beat
It," as well as collaborations with Queen's Brian May (1983's
Star Fleet Project) and Roger Waters (the track "Lost Boys Calling"
from 1999's The Legend of 1900 soundtrack). Film scoring also
was added to his list of credentials, with his compositions appearing
on the soundtracks for the movies The Wild Life (1985) and Twister
(1996).
Although he was associated with Kramer Guitars throughout the
'80s, Ed created his own line of guitars for first the Ernie Ball
Company in the early '90s, before switching to Peavey in the mid-'90s.
Eddie's personal life has also found it's way into the tabloids
over the years, first with his marriage to TV actress Valerie
Bertinelli, and also with a publicized alcohol dependency (a battle
he successfully conquered in the late '90s). Eddie Van Halen remains
one of rock's great instrumentalists.
This bio courtesy www.allmusic.com
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