Edward Lodewijk Van Halen was an American musician and songwriter.
Born in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Van Halen was the son of Dutch jazz pianist, clarinetist and saxophonist, Jan van Halen and Eugenia van Beers.
At age six, Eddie Van Halen and his brother Alex Van Halen began learning the piano.
Between 1964 and 1967, Eddie won first place in the annual piano competition at Long Beach City College.
Eddie and his brother drummer Alex Van Halen, alongside bassist Mark Stone and singer David Lee Roth formed the band Mammoth in 1972. But, changed the band name to Van Halen two years later.
What did Eddie Van Halen invent?
Eddie Van Halen was the main songwriter, guitarist, and keyboardist of the rock band Van Halen.
Recognised as one of the greatest guitar players in rock history, Eddie invented a guitar-playing aid including a two-handed fretboard tapping technique on the guitar or the act of playing the guitar using both left and right hands on the neck which gave his heavy metal rock group a unique sound.
Van Halen received US patent No. 4,656,917 (the ‘917 Patent), titled “Musical instrument support,” which was issued on April 14, 1987. The ’917 Patent is generally directed to a supporting device for a musical instrument used to stabilize an instrument so that playing it is easier and the musician may more easily experiment with new techniques.
In 1982, Van Halen made his first guitar endorsement by launching the 5150 Baretta model with Kramer and this partnership lasted for a decade.
In 1991, Van Halen began working with Ernie Ball / Music Man, developing the Music Man EVH model guitar — a partnership that lasted until 1995.
Van Halen teamed up with Peavey, where they developed the Peavey EVH Wolfgang in 1996 and this friendship lasted until 2004, when he joined forces with Fender, originally releasing the Edward-endorsed Art Series guitars under Fender’s Charvel brand and later developing the EVH brand.
Eddie Van Halen died on October 6, 2020, at age 65, after battling cancer.