Alex Van Halen

Alex Van Halen

Birth name: Alexander Arthur Van Halen
DOB: 5/8/1953
Where: Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Netherlands
Height: 6'

Spouse
-Stine Schyberg: 2000-present, 2 kids
-Kelly Van Halen: 1984-1996 (divorced) 1 child
-Valerie Kendall: 6/11/1983-1984 (divorced)

Trademark
-Likes to use hi-hat cymbals
-Frequently wears sunglasses
-His Ludwig drums
-Two kick drums
-The Brown Sound (the sound of his snare drum)

Trivia
-Ex-brother in law of Valerie Bertinelli
-Drummer for Van Halen

-As an ordained minister, he officiated the wedding of his brother Eddie and his wife Janie Liszewski on June 27, 2009. His nephew, Wolfgang Van Halen, was the best man

-After quitting drinking in the 1980s, he would encourage brother Eddie to do the same
-Like his brother Eddie, Alex spoke very little English until his family immigrated to the US

-Likes to use the biggest drumsticks ever, and once described the ones he used as "miniature baseball bats"
-Did not like the song "Dancing in the Street" off the 1982 Diver Down album. He said it isn't Van Halen

Random Thought!!

Have you ever wondered about what the hardest position in a rock or metal band is? I think it's the drummer!!! Because the drummer has to, not only, keep up with the guitarists, but also the lead singer, if there is one. Some bands, like The Beatles, had just 3 guitarists and one drummer. Or, there's other bands that actually have a lead singer, like Steven Tyler of Aerosmith, Joe Elliot of Def Leppard, Rob Halford of Judas Priest or Vince Neil of Motley Crue. And what's cool is that some of these drummers have nicknames, cool, right?

So, since this post is on drummers, here are some really cool drummers!!
*-My favorite

*Rick Allen
-Known as: The Black Knight, Thundergod
-Def Leppard
-Shares a birthday with Red Hot Chili Peppers front man, Anthony Kiedis

*Eric Singer
-Played drums for Black Sabbath, Lita Ford, Alice Cooper, Brian May
-Kiss
-Likes/owns classic cars and motorcycles

Cute!

*Peter Criss
-His first wife Lydia was the inspiration behind the Kiss ballad "Beth"
-Kiss
-Sued the National Enquirer in 1995 for falsely stating he was a homeless drunk living on the beach under the Santa Monica Pier

*Eric Carr
-Birth name was Paul Charles Caravello
-Kiss
-Died on the same day as Queen front man Freddie Mercury. Only that guy got more coverage in newspapers and magazines that Carr did, which is totally ridiculous. Eric Carr deserves a little posthumous respect too!

Cute!

Tommy Lee
-In Sept. 1998, completed 4 months in solitary confinement in prison
-Motley Crue
-His mother was Miss Greece 1957

*Charlie Watts
-Known as: The Wembley Whammer
-The Rolling Stones
-Even though Mick Jagger and Keith Richards are the only remaining founding members of The Stones, Charlie joined within a year of its beginning

Tre Cool
-Birth name is Frank Edwin Wright III
-Green Day
-Was born in Frankfurt, Germany

*Joey Kramer
-Suffered second degree burns when his Ferrari caught fire while refueling
-Aerosmith
-Drummer for Aerosmith

Keith Moon
-Known as: Moon the Loon
-The Who
-Youngest member of The Who

Zak Starkey
-Son of former Beatles drummer Ringo Starr and Maureen Cox-Starkey
-The Who
-Was taught the drums not by his dad Ringo, but by his godfather, Keith Moon of The Who

*Ringo Starr
-Is 3 months older than John Lennon and was the last one to join the group
-The Beatles
-Even though Paul McCartney is the more successful ex-Beatle, Ringo has sold more albums

*Neil Peart
-Known as: The Professor
-Rush
-Dropped out of high school

*Phil Collins
-Known as: Little Elvis
-Genesis
-Was one of the guests at Prince Charles' wedding to Camilla Parker-Bowles

*Phil Rudd
-Shares a birthday with Joey Ramone of The Ramones, Pete Townshend of The Who and Dusty Hill of ZZ Top
-AC/DC
-Became a helicopter pilot during his 12 year absence from AC/DC

Dean Castronovo
-Joined Journey in 1982
-Journey
-Has played music with Black Sabbath guitarist Geezer Butler's band G/Z/R

Steven Adler
-Guns N' Roses
-Fired from Guns N' Roses in 1990 due to his drug abuse
-Attended middle school with Slash

Alex Van Halen
-Is a practical joker, doing things such as nailing unattended shoes to the floor
-Van Halen, obviously!!!!!

10 Things You Did Not Know About Alex Van Halen

Alex Van Halen

10
Supposed to be guitarist
-While it was Alex who was taking guitar lessons, it was Eddie who pounded the drums on the drumkit he bought with his paper route money

9
Dutch father is very talented jazz musician
-Alex was born in Holland in 1953. But did not move to the United States until 1963. His father, Jan, was a very talented jazz saxophonist and clarinet player. Alex and Eddie were also classically trained on how to play the piano

8
One of the more wild drummers
-Always been a slight madman on stage, he's known for lighting cymbals and drumsticks on fire before performing. Over the years, his drum kits grew larger and larger until he was almost invisible on stage

7
Crazy backstage too!
-Backstage, Alex used to almost party it up, drinking excessive amounts of beer on both the road and in the studio.

6
Hurt himself
-He broke 3 vertebrae in his neck, and spent much of the 1995 'Balance' tour wearing a giant neckbrace. According to his brother Eddie, it was dubbed the 'Ambulance' tour.

5
He's can ordain marriages.
-In 2009, he presided over brother Eddie's marriage to publicist Janie Liszewski. Back in 1987, he gave up the drinking and did it by going cold turkey.

4
Loyal family man
-He's incredibly loyal to his family

3
Van Halen is an almost all family band
-His nephew, Wolfgang Van Halen, now plays bass for the band, which Michale Anthony originally did

2
It's said there are overdubs on 'Hot for Teacher'
-It's true. The lightning fast drum solo at the beginning was done by multiple sets of drum hits recorded

1
Way overdue on new stuff
-It's said that the band is overdue on new music ever since Eddie built his own recording studio in his backyard back in 1983. The last thing they recorded together is the 1998 album Van Halen III. But people will probably be just listening to "Everybody Wants Some" from their recent 2008 tour