Alex Van Halen

Alex Van Halen
Background information
Birth name	Alexander Arthur van Halen
Born	(1953-05-08) May 8, 1953 (age 63) Nijmegen, Netherlands
Origin	Pasadena, California, U.S
Genres	Hard rock, heavy metal
Instruments	Drums
Years active	1962–present
Labels	Warner Bros.
Associated acts	Van Halen
Website	http://www.van-halen.com
Notable instruments
Ludwig drums Paiste cymbals Remo drumheads Regal Tip drumsticks Ahead drumsticks

Alexander Arthur "Alex" Van Halen (born May 8, 1953) is a Dutch-American musician, best known as the drummer and co-founder of the hard rock band Van Halen. Originally, his brother Eddie played drums, while Alex practiced guitar. After spending time playing Eddie's drum kit, Alex became more skillful at the drums than Eddie.

In 1974, the Van Halen brothers, David Lee Roth, and Michael Anthony formed a band, simply called Van Halen. They were signed to Warner Brothers in 1977 and released their debut album in 1978. The two brothers are the only members of Van Halen who have been in the band for its entire duration.

Alexander Arthur Van Halen was born in Nijmegen. His Dutch father Jan (1920–1986) was an accomplished jazz saxophonist and clarinet player. His mother Eugenia van Beers (1914–2005) was an Indo (Eurasian) from Rangkasbitung, Indonesia. He spent his childhood in Nijmegen in the east of the country. The family moved to Pasadena, California in 1962. Both Alex and his younger brother, Eddie, are naturalized U.S. citizens.

Both Alex and Eddie Van Halen were trained as classical pianists in their childhood. 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 learn to play the electric guitar. Alex was influenced by Budgie drummer Ray Phillips.

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