Below is a short 4-minute video which shows Eddie and Alex's childhood home in Nijmegen, Netherlands. The video is entirely in Dutch, so we sent this video to Eddie himself for verification. He really got a kick out of it, and said that it is indeed the building where he and Alex lived, and that the two women in the video lived in the flat below. Two very old Van Halen … [Read more...]
1962 Photo: The Van Halen Family On a Boat to America
This historic photo was taken on the very boat that carried the Van Halen family to America (Feb. 1962). It was a nine-day boat ride, and to help pay their fare, Jan, Edward, and Alex provided the ships musical entertainment. Special thanks to Jan and Eugenia for taking their two beautiful boys and risking everything by immigrating to America with their nothing but 75 Dutch … [Read more...]
Remembering Dick Dale: Without Surf Music, Would There Be a Van Halen?
Dick Dale, the "King of the Surf Guitar," died Saturday at age 81. RIP, maestro. As we honor his legacy, we ask ourselves this: Would Van Halen exist as we know it - or even exist at all - without young Eddie and Alex first being influenced by Southern California surf rock? Two Van Halen authors share their thoughts on the subject... Dick Dale is best known for … [Read more...]
Unearthed 1964 Photo: “The Broken Combs” Band, Featuring Eddie and Alex Van Halen
The historic photo above is one of the oldest Van Halen photos ever. Here's the story... In 1964, fourteen years before Van Halen's first album, Eddie and Alex Van Halen were young kids (age 9 & 11) who had immigrated to the United States just two short years earlier. Eddie Van Halen met fellow student Kevan Hill in their early morning music class at Hamilton Elementary … [Read more...]
Growing Up With The Van Halens
VHND exclusive: Interview with Dennis Travis, ex-member of the Trojan Rubber Company (Eddie and Alex Van Halen's band in 1971) While many claim to have known the Van Halen brothers in their formative years before signing with Warner Brothers, few can call them their childhood friends. However, Dennis Travis not only knew the Van Halens, but was a member of one of their first … [Read more...]
The Van Halen Brothers Interviewed About Their Childhood By David Lee Roth
Gibson article about the early years of Van Halen
From Gibson.com. [The PHOTO of young Alex and Eddie Van Halen is from the (out of print) Official Van Halen magazine, The Inside.] The Early Years of Van Halen: A Paper Route, a High School Essay, and a Couple of Lucky Breaks Jerry McCulley | 01.23.2008 It took a decade of false starts, misfires, and acrimony, but David Lee Roth’s return to Van Halen after a … [Read more...]