Friday, January 4, 2013

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

No comments:

Post a Comment