My Life

I was born on January 26, 1955, in Nijmegen, Netherlands as Edward Lodewijk van Halen My father, Jan van Halen, was a clarinetist, pianist, and saxophonist In 1962, at the age of 7, my family moved to Pasadena, California. Early Years

My older brother Alex and I learned to play the piano at an early age. I never understood sheet music, and I learned from listening to the teacher play. I quit playing piano, and once Alex started playing guitar, I learned to play the drums. I became jealous of my brother when he became better than me at the drums. So we traded: Alex learned drums, and he gave me his guitar When I was in Fourth grade, me, Alex and three others formed the band The Broken Combs. This was when my desire to be a musician was formed. My Musical Interest

In 1972, Alex and I formed a band called Mammoth: Me on guitar and vocals, Alex on drums, and a man named Mark Stone on bass. We had no P.A. system, so we rented one from David Lee Roth. I hated doing both vocals and guitar, so we brought on David to be our new vocalist. Later on, we brought in Michael Anthony to replace Mark. After realizing we had been plagiarizing Mammoth from another band, David we suggested we rename the band Van Halen, after our family name. We played mainly covers, ranging from pop to disco music, before we decided to perform original material. In 1976, Gene Simmons showed up at one of our shows. He showed interest, and soon after we recorded a demo tape. In 1977, we signed with Warner Brothers and released our first album, titled “Van Halen”, on February 12, The Formation of Van Halen

We made three more albums, Van Halen II (1979), Women and Children First (1980), and Fair Warning (1981). We started gaining major popularity and getting more radio time. On April 18, 1981, I married actress Valerie Bertinelli. In 1982, I tried to join KISS. But Gene Simmons and Alex talked me into staying with Van Halen. Later in ‘82, I was approached by Quincey Jones to do the guitar solo in Michael Jackson’s Thriller. We released album number 6, Diver Down, in On January 9, 1984, we released We gained huge popularity with that album, achieving RIAA Diamond status. Success and Marriage

David Lee Roth left the band due to tensions with other band members in Afterward, we brought in Sammy Hagar in the July of We had to change the way our music was made to go with Sammy’s singing style. We started making softer, more commercialized music, and I started playing the keyboard on more tracks. Valerie gave birth to our son, Wolfgang, on March 16, 1991 In 1991, we got our first number one record, For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge. The following year, we won a Grammy for Best Hard Rock Performance. We lost some of our more loyal fans with Sammy’s hiring, due to the fact we changed so much to accomodate his singing style. We were even called Sam Halen or Van Hagar a few times. After months of arguments and building tension, Sammy left the band in June of We released four albums with Sammy as the lead: 5150 (1986), OU812 (1988), For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge (1991), and Balance (1995) Change in Style and My Son

After Sammy left, we reunited with David for a brief amount of time. He left again after the MTV Video Music Awards in September We released a best of album, named Best Of: Volume 1 the following month. After David left the band for the second time, we started looking for a replacement for him. We settled on Gary Cherone, the lead singer of a band that was also managed by our manager. We released Van Halen III with Gary, and it received very poor reviews. It is still, to this day, considered our worst CD. After a fairly unpopular world tour, Gary left the band on friendly terms. Without a vocalist, we went on a hiatus. Gary Cherone and Hiatus

In November of 1999, I had to undergo a hip replacement, after the avascular necrosis I was diagnosed with in 1995 became unbearable. In May of 2000, I started having treatments for tongue cancer. Since May of 2002, I’ve been cancer free. Valerie and Iseparated in She filed for divorce in We remain close friends to this day. On March 8, 2007, I announced I was going into rehab for drug and alcohol abuse. I had become addicted to cocaine and drank heavily over the years. I entered rehab to be a better role model for Wolfgang. On October 6, 2008, I proposed to my girlfriend Janie Liszewski. We married on June 27, Alex officiated, and Wolfgang was my best man. Personal Lows and Highs

We reunited with David in February of 2007 for a tour, but it was indefinitely postponed due to my stint in rehab. That same year, we announced a tour with David on board, and announced there may be new material with David as lead vocals. My son Wolfgang replaced Michael on bass for the tour, and stayed as our permanent bassist. On February 7, 2012, we released our first album in 14 years: A Different Kind of Truth, our first album with Wolfgang on bass and our first since 1984 with David at vocals. A Different Kind of Truth

Van Halen (1978) Van Halen II (1979) Women and Children first (1980) Fair Warning (1981) Diver Down (1982) 1984 (1984) 5150 (1986) OU812 (1988) * Live and/or Compilation albums For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge (1991) Live: Right Here, Right Now* (1993) Balance (1995) Best Of: Volume 1* (1996) Van Halen III (1998) The Best of Both Worlds* (2004) A Different Kind of Truth (2012) Van Halen Discography

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