Van Halen

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Van Halen was formed in 1972 in Pasadena, California, by the brothers Eddie and Alex Van Halen. They were born in Amsterdam, the sons of the Dutch musician Jan Van Halen. With singer David Lee Roth and bassist Michael Anthony, Van Halen became one of the biggest hard rock bands of the 1980s. Guitarist Eddie Van Halen was regarded as one of the most influential guitarists of his generation.

Music and breakthrough

The debut album Van Halen was released in February 1978. It contains Eruption, a guitar solo in which Eddie taps the strings with the fingers of his right hand: tapping. That technique was subsequently adopted by countless guitarists. Eddie also played the guitar solo in Michael Jackson's Beat It (1983). On the album 1984 the band took a striking step. Jump was built on a synthesizer riff that Eddie had already written around 1981, but that the rest of the band had rejected at the time. It became Van Halen's only number 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100. For some of the fans, a keyboard in a hard rock band was treason.

Influence

In 1985 Roth left and Sammy Hagar took his place. With him, 5150 (1986) became the band's first album to reach number 1 in America. In 2007 Van Halen was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Eddie Van Halen died in October 2020. Jump showed how rock in the 1980s went along with electronics, like The Final Countdown by Europe two years later.

Listening

• 
  Jump · Van Halen, 1984
  Apple Music ↗

Discography

Studio albums

• 1978Van Halen
• 1979Van Halen
• 1980Women and Children First
• 1981Fair Warning
• 1982Diver Down
• 19841984
• 19865150
• 1988OU812
• 1991For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge
• 1995Balance
• 1998Van Halen
• 2012A Different Kind of Truth

In School of Rock

The chapters, maps and magazine stories of School of Rock are currently available in Dutch only.

• Mixtape 2: Youth Cultures 1950-1980^NL Reader
• Mixtape 4: When Rock Was Still Pop^NL Reader
• Mixtape 7: The 1980s^NL Reader

Mentioned in other articles

• Glam metal and stadium rock GenreBon Jovi and Van Halen scored big hits; in 1987 Guns N' Roses brought back the rawness.
• Jump SongAt the end of 1983, Van Halen's Jump was released, the band of guitarist Eddie Van Halen, one of the most influential guitarists of his time.

See also

• Women and Children First
• Fair Warning
• Diver Down
• For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge
• A Different Kind of Truth
• Glam metal and stadium rock

Sources

1. Wikipedia (en): Van Halen
2. Wikipedia (en): Eddie Van Halen
3. Wikipedia (en): Beat It
4. Wikipedia (en): Jump (Van Halen song