Eddie Van Halen

Edward Lodewijk Van Halen (born January 26, 1955) is a Dutch-American musician, songwriter and producer. He is best known as the lead guitarist, occasional keyboardist and co-founder of the American hard rock band Van Halen and is considered as one of the most influential guitarists in the history of rock music. In 2011, Rolling Stone Magazine ranked Van Halen number eight in the list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists. In 2012, he was voted number one in a Guitar World magazine reader's poll for "The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time". 2Biography 3Early life Born in Nijmegen, Netherlands, Edward Lodewijk van Halen is the son of Dutch father, Jan van Halen, a clarinetist, saxophonist, and pianist, and Indonesian-born Eurasian mother, Eugenia van Halen (née van Beers). Van Halen's middle name, "Lodewijk", is after composer Ludwig van Beethoven, "Lodewijk" being the Dutch equivalent of "Ludwig". He continued this tradition by naming his son Wolfgang Van Halen after composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. In February 1962, the Van Halen family moved to the United States, settling in Pasadena, California. Both Eddie and his older brother, Alex, are naturalized U.S. citizens. The Van Halen brothers learned to play the piano as children starting at the age of si