Van Halen (/vænˈheɪlɛn/ van HAY-len) was an American rock band formed in Pasadena, California, in 1972. Credited with "restoring hard rock to the forefront of the music scene",[2] Van Halen was known for its energetic live shows[3] and for the virtuosity of its lead guitarist, Eddie Van Halen.[4][5] The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007.
From 1974 until 1985, Van Halen consisted of Eddie Van Halen; Eddie's brother, drummer Alex Van Halen; vocalist David Lee Roth; and bassist/vocalist Michael Anthony.[6] Upon its release in 1978, the band's self-titled debut album reached No. 19 on the Billboard pop music charts and would sell over 10 million copies in the U.S. By 1982, the band released four more albums (Van Halen II, Women and Children First, Fair Warning, and Diver Down), all of which have since been certified multi-platinum. By the early 1980s, Van Halen was one of the most successful rock acts of the day.[7] The album 1984 was a commercial success with U.S. sales of 10 million copies and four hit singles; its lead single, "Jump", was the band's only U.S. number one single.
In 1985, Roth left the band to embark on a solo career and was replaced by former Montrose lead vocalist Sammy Hagar. With Hagar, the group released four U.S. number-one, multi-platinum albums over the course of 11 years (5150 in 1986, OU812 in 1988, For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge in 1991, and Balance in 1995). Hagar left the band in 1996 shortly before the release of the band's first greatest hits collection, Best Of – Volume I. Former Extreme frontman Gary Cherone replaced Hagar and recorded the commercially unsuccessful album Van Halen III with the band in 1998, before parting ways in 1999. Van Halen then went on hiatus until reuniting with Hagar in 2003 for a worldwide tour in 2004 and the double-disc greatest hits collection The Best of Both Worlds. Hagar again left Van Halen in 2005. In 2006 Roth returned, but Anthony was replaced on bass guitar by Eddie's son, Wolfgang Van Halen. In 2012, the band released their final studio album A Different Kind of Truth, which was commercially and critically successful; it was also Van Halen's first album with Roth in 28 years and the only one to feature Wolfgang.
As of March 2019[update], Van Halen is 20th on the RIAA list of best-selling artists in the United States; the band has sold 56 million albums in the States[8][9] and more than 80 million worldwide, making them one of the best-selling groups of all time.[10][11][12] As of 2007[update], Van Halen is one of only five rock bands with two studio albums to sell more than 10 million copies in the United States[13] and is tied for the most multi-platinum albums by an American band. Additionally, Van Halen has charted 13 number-one hits on Billboard's Mainstream Rock chart. VH1 ranked the band seventh on a list of the top 100 Hard Rock artists of all time.[14]
Eddie was diagnosed with cancer in 2001, and died of the disease on October 6, 2020.[15][16][17] A month after his father's death, Wolfgang confirmed that Van Halen had disbanded.[1]
The Van Halen brothers were born in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, Alex Van Halen in 1953 and Eddie Van Halen in 1955,[18] sons to Dutch musician Jan Van Halen and Indonesian-born Indo Eugenia Van Beers. The family moved to Pasadena, California, in 1962. Young Edward soon began learning classical piano by ear, and became so proficient he won an annual piano recital contest 2 or 3 years in a row, despite never mastering the art of sight-reading sheet music. The brothers began playing music together in the 1960s, Eddie on drums and Alex on guitar. However, while Ed was delivering newspapers to payoff his drum set, Alex would secretly develop a passion and proficiency at them. Eventually out of frustration and brotherly competition, Ed told Alex, "OK, you play drums and I'll play your guitar."[19]