Van Halen Songs - Their Best Works, Members, And Facts

Publish date: 2024-06-23

Van Halen songs make up some of the best of rock and roll’s greatest sounds with tunes like Eruption, Unchained, Jump, and many other interesting melodies that are professionally spread across the group’s 12 albums which include Van Halen, their 1978 debut which ascended to number 19 on the Billboard pop music charts and sold over 10 million copies in the United States of America by 1982.

The rock group formed in Pasadena Califonia 1972 settled for its current name in 1973 after undergoing several name changes.

Known for hard, glam, pop, and heavy metal rock music Van Halen has some of its best works in albums like OU812 (1988)  and For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge (1991) which won two awards in the 1992 season as the Best hard rock performance at the 34th Annual Grammy Awards and also Favorite Heavy Metal/Hard Rock Album at the American Music Awards.

Pioneer members of the group like Eddie, Alex, and Mark stone have since died from cancer. Be that as it may, others have moved on with their separate musical career in other rock bands following the disbanding of the rock group; Van Halen in 2020, 7 years before the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll hall of fame.

Table of Contents

Meet the Van Halen Band Members

1. Eddie Van Halen (Pioneer)

Born Edward Lodewijk Van Hale in 1955, Eddie was the band’s frontman as its songwriter, guitarist, and keyboardist. He notably also did a famous guitar solo for Michael Jackson in one of his thriller album songs: Beat It

The Dutch music star joined forces with his brother Alex, when he was 17 years old, to start the musical group which later transformed into Van Halen. Although he was mostly known for his work as a musician with the band, he also had a brief solo career and worked with his brother on soundtracks for some films like Better Off Dead (1985).

Eddie’s life was cut short in 2020 having battled throat cancer, lung cancer, and later stroke. He was 65 at the time of his death and his demise led to the disbanding of the band.

2. Alex Van Halen 

Born Alexander Arthur van Halen in 1953, Alex Van Halen is the older brother of Eddie and also another very important part of the band.

The band’s drummer, Alex was a part of other bands before he finally settled with Eddie and others to form Van Halen. He did not have a serious career outside of the band, except for the “Respect the Wind” instrumental that went on to fetch him and Eddie a Grammy Nomination in 1997.

3. David Lee Roth

Diamond Dave was born in October 1954. He had a career in music that lasted from 1972 until 2022 when he retired. He started out as a solo singer before he got to join Van Halen in 1974. He was with the band until 1984 when he left only to return again in 1996 briefly. After he left the band in 1984, he started a solo career that lasted until he called music quit.

4. Mark Stone

Stone was a very skillful bassist who was part of Van Halen between 1972 to 1974 and reportedly played on the band’s first demo. His rather short stay in the group was due to school engagements. The group had to look for another bassist because they felt his commitment to his academics was affecting the performance of Stone who was said to be a straight-A student.

Mark was then replaced with Michael Anthony but maintained a good relationship with his former band members until his life was cut short in 2020 after battling cancer too.

5. Michael Anthony

U.S born Michael Anothony got a promising career after succeeding Mark Stone as bassist. He performed for the group’s first 11 albums between 1974 to 2006 and has remained the longest-serving bass guitarist in the rock band.

Michael who was replaced by Eddie Van Halen’s son Wolfgang moved on to start a new band alongside Sammy Hagar in 2008. They called the band Chickenfoot and released their first studio album in Europe on the 5th of June 2009. Michael is now a member of Sammy Hagar and the Circle, a super rock group that was formed in Miami, in 2014.

He now resides with his family in Newport Beach Califonia as a singer and a successful entrepreneur.

6. Sammy Hagar

Born as Sammy Roy Hagar on the 13th of October 1947, Sammy became prominent in the 70s as a member of the Montrose hard rock band. He later went solo in 1984 with his lead single I Can’t Drive. However, in 1985, the rockstar replaced David Lee Roth as lead singer in Van Halen but left the group after spending 11 years with them.

Hagar again returned to Van Halen in 2003 and stayed a brief moment of 2 years before moving on to establish Chicken foot and then subsequently Sammy Hagar and the Circle where Michael Anothony is currently also performing. Sammy notably founded the Cabo Wabo tequila brand and restaurant chain. He further has bar called Beach Bar rum.

7. Gary Cherone 

Singer-songwriter Gary Francis Caine Cherone was a member of the band from 1996 until 1999. He was born in 1961 and he got to start his career in 1975 with different local bands. In 1985, he became a member of Extreme, and then in 1996, he joined Van Halen.

After he left the band, he joined Tribe of Judah from 2000 to 2002 before returning again to Extreme in 2004.

8. Wolfgang Van Halen

Wolfgang William Van Halen is the youngest member of the band before it came to an end. He is the son of Eddie and was born in 1991. Although he started his career in 2004, it was in 2006 that he joined his father’s band as a bassist after replacing Michael Anthony.

He now has a career under the project, Mammoth WVH which he started in 2020 after he lost his father. Wolfgang has also performed with other bands including Tremonti.

1. OU812

2. Van Halen 

3. Women and Children First

4. When It’s Love

SEE ALSO: 15 Funny Love Songs For Lovers Wanting All the Fun In the World

5. For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge

Other Interesting Facts About Van Halen

1. Van Halen Made 12 Albums and 18 Tours as a Band

The Van Halen rock band has released a total of twelve albums and made at least 18 Concert tours. Their albums and tours are listed below.

Albums

  • Van Halen (1978)
  • Van Halen ii (1979)
  • Women and children first (1980)
  • Fair Warning (1981)
  • Diver Down (1982)
  • 1984 (1984)
  • 5150 (1986)
  • OU812 (1988)
  • For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge (1991)
  • Balance (1995)
  • Van Helen iii (1998)
  • A different kind of truth (2012)

    • Concert Tours

  • Early Van Halen concert tours (1973-1978)
  • 1978 World Tour
  • World Vacation Tour (1979)
  • World Invasion Tour (1980)
  • Fair Warning Tour (1981)
  • Hide Your Sheep Tour (1982-1983)
  • 1984 Tour
  • Monster Rock Tour (1984)
  • 5150 Tour (1986)
  • OU812 Tour (1989)
  • For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge Tour (1991-1992)
  • Right Here Right Now Tour (1993)
  • The Balance “Ambulance” Tour (1995)
  • III Tour (1998)
  • Summer Tour (2004)
  • Van Halen 20007-2008 North American Tour
  • A Different Kind Of Truth Tour (2012-2013)
  • Van Halen 2015 North American Tour

    • 2. Van Halen Songs Have Won Several Awards

    Songs written and produced by the all-time rock group have topped several charts, appeared in nominations, and won a good number of awards.

    In 1992, Van Halen’s For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge won two awards. First as the Best Hard Rock Performance at the 34th Annual Grammy Awards and second as Favorite Heavy Metal/Hard Rock Album at the American Music Awards.

    Correspondingly, the 1992 video for the hit single Right Now won three awards including the 1992 MTV Video Music Awards. Furthermore, the track Jump won the Award for Best Stage Performance at the inaugural MTV Video Music Awards in 1984.

    3. The Group’s Name Kept Changing Until they Arrived at Van Halen

    Van Halen was adopted after the rock group considered many names. They initially began with The Broken Combs and then later changed to The Space Brothers. From the space brothers, they moved to Trojan and then Genesis. Just when they would have settled for Genesis, they discovered there was another group that had taken that name. In 1973, the group had to opt for Van Halen.

    4. Eddie Introduced a Guitar Technique Known as Eruption

    The eruption is a unique guitar solo technique introduced by Eddie into rock music. It is seen as one of the greatest guitar solos of time. It was played in You really Got Me, a song in their debut album.

    5. The Van Halen Band is Listed in the Guinness Book of Records

    After Van Halen performed a heavy metal day in 1983, they were captured by the Guinness Book of record as the highest-paid musicians in their category being paid a whopping $1.5 million in a single appearance at the U.S Festival. This record however eclipsed in the 1990s. The band was also inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of fame in 2007.

    6. Sammy Hagar and Eddie Had a Bad Clash Before Eddie Passed on

    As expected, every group will have good and bad times. Sammy, a guitarist and lead vocal who had been with the group from 1985 to 1996 had a clash with Eddie which made him excuse himself from the group for a while. When Eddie died, he however apologized for exposing his colleague’s dark side. Sammy reportedly wrote a book that portrayed Eddie as an angry drunk.

    7. Pioneer Founders of the Band, Eddie, and Alex Halen Died of Cancer

    Eddie and his brother Alex were the pioneer founders of the group who performed alongside David Lee Roth and Michael Anthony. The brothers, unfortunately, died from cancer in October 2020, sharing a death gap difference of just ten days. While Eddie suffered throat cancer before his demise, his brother was diagnosed with glioblastoma, a form of brain cancer that he battled for three and a half years.

    Similarly, a former bass player of the Van Halen band, Mark Stone also died of cancer on 26 Sept 2020.

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