Edward Lodewijk "Eddie" Van Halen (born January 26, 1955), is a Dutch-American guitarist, keyboardist, songwriter and producer most famous for being the lead guitarist and co-founder of the rock band Van Halen.
Another Van Halen formation
Main article: Van HalenVan Halen, originally called "Mammoth", was formed in 1972 in Pasadena, California, United States. The band consisted of Eddie Van Halen on guitar and vocals, his brother, Alex on drums, and bassist Mark Stone. They had no P.A. system of their own, so they rented one from David Lee Roth[2] (who had auditioned for the band, but failed) - a service for which he charged $10 a night. Eddie quickly became frustrated singing lead vocals,[2] and decided they could save money by letting Roth into the band.[2] Soon, Michael Anthony replaced Mark Stone on bass. They opted to change the name of the band, reportedly due to another band used the same name - Roth is normally attributed with suggesting the name 'Van Halen'.
In 1977 Gene Simmons saw one of Van Halen's shows at Gazzari's in Hollywood,and subsequently financed their first demo tape, flying the band to Electric Lady Studios in New York to record "House of Pain" and "Runnin' With the Devil". Eddie disliked his playing on the demo, because he wasn't using his own equipment, and had to overdub guitar parts (which he had never done before.)[2]
In 1977, Van Halen was offered a recording contract with Warner Bros. Records. Later that year, they recorded their first album, "Van Halen", which was released on February 10, 1978. Eddie claims that their first single, "You Really Got Me", a cover of the original Kinks song, was not his first choice. The band was forced to release the song before other bands (notably L.A. rival "Angel") who heard Van Halen's rendition and were trying to beat them to the punch.
