Alex Van Halen

Infobox musical artist
|
Name = Alex Van Halen


Img_capt = Alex Van Halen behind his kit during the 2007 reunion tour
Background = non_vocal_instrumentalist
Birth_name = Alexander Arthur Van Halen
Born = birth date and age|1953|05|08
Origin = Nijmegen, The Netherlands
Instrument = Drums, Percussion, Vocals, Keyboards, Guitar
Genre = Hard rock
Years_active = 1967–present
Label = Warner Bros. Records
Associated_acts = Van Halen
URL = http://www.van-halen.com
Notable_instruments =

Alexander Arthur Van Halen is a Dutch drummer and co-founder of the hard rock band Van Halen.

Originally, Eddie had taken lessons for drums, while his brother 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.

Early life

Alex Van Halen was born in Amsterdam cite web |url=http://www.nnp.org/nni/Publications/Dutch-American/halena.html |title=Alexander Van Halen |accessmonthday=1-11 |accessyear=2008] , The Netherlands, on May 8, 1953, to Jan Van Halen; a Dutch father, and Eugenia; an Indo (Eurasian) mother.cite web |url=http://www.nnp.org/nni/Publications/Dutch-American/halena.html |title=Alexander Van Halen |accessmonthday=1-11 |accessyear=2008] He spent his childhood in Nijmegen in the east of the country.cite web |url=http://www.drummerworld.com/drummers/Alex_Van_Halen.html |title=Drummerworld: Alex van halen |accessmonthday=1-12 |accessyear=2008] The family moved to Pasadena, California, USA, in 1962.

Both Alex and Eddie Van Halen were trained as classical pianists in their childhood.cite web |url=http://www.drumsoloartist.com/Site/Drummers2/Alex_Van_Halen.html |title=Alex Van Halen at DrumSoloArtist |accessmonthday=1-13 |accessyear=2008] Although Alex is known as a professional drummer, he began his musical aspirations as a guitarist, with his brother Eddie taking up drums. 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.

In 1971, Alex graduated from Pasadena High School. He then took classes in music theory, scoring, composition and arranging at Pasadena City College for a short while. While attending Pasadena City College, Alex met Michael Anthony and David Lee Roth. They formed the band Mammoth, and Alex, along with the others, decided to drop out of Pasadena City College.cite web |url=http://www.rockhall.com/inductee/van-halen/ |title=Rock and Roll Hall of Fame |accessmonthday=1-18 |accessyear=2008 ]

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.

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 Mark stone was replaced by Michael Anthony. 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.cite web |url=http://www.classicvanhalen.com/bios_avh.shtml |title=Alex Van Halen at ClassicVanHalen.com |accessmonthday=3-22 |accessyear=2008]

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

The only non&n dash 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)cite web |url=http://www.rockonthenet.com/archive/1997/grammys.htm 1997 |title=Grammy Nominations from Rock on the Net ] 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.Fact|date=February 2008 Alex married his current wife, Stine Schyberg, in 2000. She is the mother of his son Malcolm Van Halen.Fact|date=January 2008

Alex is the uncle of Wolfgang Van Halen.

References

External links

* [http://www.van-halen.com Official Van Halen website]