Book club. An honest publisher usually pays

• Amsterdam, Kingdom of the Netherlands

Edward (Eddie) Lodewijk Van Halen(Dutch. Edward Lodewijk van Halen; January 26, Nijmegen) is an American guitarist of Dutch origin. Songwriter, designer of guitars and amplification equipment. Founder (along with his brother Alex) of the hard rock band Van Halen of the same name.

Biography

Van Halen in 1993

Eddie said in an interview: "I always considered Eric Clapton to be a guitar player who had a huge influence on me, but Jimmy Page influenced me more in terms of incredible energy playing the guitar."

Eddie is missing a third of his tongue, which was removed during cancer treatment. Eddie himself confirmed the information in 2001.

Video on the topic

Founding of Van Halen

The band's line-up was Eddie Van Halen (guitar), Alex Van Halen (drums) and Mark Stone (bass).

They did not have their own amplifiers and had to rent them from David Lee Roth. Eddie began to look closely at David as a vocalist, and even in this case they could save on renting a device.

Before starting to play their own music, the group performed cover versions.

Eddie and David Lee Roth

The album rose to second place on the Billboard list. It was surpassed only by Michael Jackson's Thriller, in which Eddie also took part. Eddie can be heard on Michael Jackson's song "Beat It" from the Thriller album.

Many consider David's period to be Van Halen's golden age, although the band was still commercially successful and popular after Lee Roth's departure.

Sammy Hagar Appears

With the addition of new vocalist Sammy Hagar, the band changed their sound to adapt to Sammy Hagar's much stronger vocals. Eddie began to use keyboards more often in his songs (partly spurred by the enormous success of the 1984 hit "Jump") and the guitar sound in general became less harsh and aggressive. Due to the drastic change in sound, fans began jokingly calling the band "Van Hagar" to highlight the differences in sound. Despite the change in sound, the group still remained famous and commercially successful.

The interesting thing is that with the new singer, Van Halen has changed dramatically concert performances and set lists. The group with Sammy Hagar did not perform songs written during the Lee Roth era, with the exception of such hits as "Aint Talkin' Bout Love", "Jump" or "Panama", but the bulk of all the songs were songs already written with Sammy Hagar. The group also performed two songs written by Sammy before joining Van Halen, such as “I Can`t drive 55” and “ Only One Way To Rock”, in which Sammy played second guitar in addition to singing.

Also in the early 90s, Eddie had already stopped using the so-called “brown sound” that Van Halen were famous for, abandoning the use of the Marshall Plexi amplifier, which Eddie used until 1990. The 1991 album F.U.C.K. was recorded using a Soldano SLO100 amplifier, which was the inspiration for his own Peavey 5150 amplifier, which Eddie still plays today.

Eddie also stopped using his Frankenstrat guitar and began using Wolfgang model guitars designed specifically for him. Also, during the period with Sammy Hagar, two DVDs were filmed - “Live Without A Net” in 1986 and “Right Here, Right Now.Live” in 1991

Guitar playing technique

Eddie Van Halen is known as the inventor of a special style of guitar playing.

Eddie is considered one of the first popularizers of tapping. Tapping is a technique for playing an electric guitar when the guitarist right hand produces sound by striking the fingerboard with a finger, exciting the vibrations of the string.

Eruption - a solo performed at Van Halen concerts, contains a part that is performed using tapping (hitting the neck of the guitar with the left and right hands). Eruption is ranked second on the magazine's list of greatest solos.

Van Halen(also abbreviated VH) - American hard rock band.

Children with early childhood had musical education, like everyone else in the family, both are piano majors. Mastering other instruments to play more modern music, Alex was learning guitar, and Eddie was learning drums. But at some point the brothers swapped instruments. As a result, the whole world knows Eddie as a virtuoso electric guitarist and guitar designer, and Alex as a recognizable and textured rock drummer.

In 1972, the brothers organized their own rock band called “Mammoth”: Edward - guitar and lead vocals, Alex - drums, Mark Stone (Mark Stone) - bass guitar. At that time, the guys did not have their own sound reinforcement equipment, so for performances they were forced to pay $50 per evening to rent a mixing console, amplifiers and speakers. The owner of the equipment was one of the musicians local group"The Red Ball Jets." It was Eddie who decided to invite him to the group as the main vocalist: firstly, to save money on rent; secondly, he himself hated singing. Thus, in 1973, vocalist David Lee Roth became the fourth member. David's family is a family of doctors: David's ancestors in the second generation, Jewish doctors, emigrated to Indiana from Russia. Later, in 1974, there was another change in the group: Mark Stone was replaced by new bassist Michael Anthony. Michael's parents emigrated to the United States from Poland.

Over time, it became clear that a group called “Mammoth” already existed. Then the band members took a very simple step: they began to call themselves “Van Halen”. Thus, 1974 became Starting point history of the quartet.

The band's first demo, produced by Kiss musician Gene Simmons, featured the songs "House of Pain" and "Running" with the Devil" was a complete failure. A year later, in 1977, Warner Bros. producer Ted Templeman began working with the group, taking the musicians under his wing.

David Lee Roth era (1978-85)

File:Van Halen (DLR era).jpg

From left to right: Michael Anthony, Alex Van Halen, David Lee Roth and Eddie Van Halen, 1980

Collaboration with Ted Templeman turned out to be important stage in the life of the group, the musicians received a contract with record company Warner Bros. Records. And already in 1978 the company released its first album, called Van Halen, which made the group world famous. The group's success comes from Roth's unique vocals and Eddie Van Halen's specific guitar technique. The album took 12th place in Billboard. Three months after its release, the album received gold status, and three more months later it received platinum status. Currently, the album has diamond status: in total, more than 10 million copies have been sold worldwide. Also in 1978, Edward Van Halen was recognized best guitarist- debutant of the year.

A week after the end of the tour, the group recorded their second, no less successful album. Van Halen II. The single with the song “Dance The Night Away” from it was included in American Top 20, and the album itself received platinum status less than 2 months after its release.

“For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge,” which was released in 1991, also went “Platinum” (the title contains an obscene acronym). For this album, Van Halen received an award at the 34th Grammy Awards in the category " Best Hard Rock performance with vocals."

At the same time, Eddie and Alex officially introduced a new guitar amplifier, the 5150. It was created by Peavey under the direct supervision and participation of Eddie Van Halen. This happened at the 1992 Winter NAMM show in Anaheim (California).

The group continues intensive touring. In 1993, using material recorded during the tour, Van Halen released their first live album Right Here, Right Now .

In 1995, Van Halen's most significant and powerful work, “Balance,” was released. Eddie used a prototype when recording the album new guitar"Wolfgang", which he created for Peavey and named after his son. In addition, a new guitar amplifier, the 5150, was used. Here the creativity of each of the musicians, especially Sammy Hagar as a vocalist, was most fully and vividly revealed. For many fans of Van Halen, the album “Balance” is considered the pinnacle of creation, leaving even “” and “Van Halen” in the shadows. Naturally for the time, the main pressing of "Balance" was released on CD, but in addition it was also pressed in a limited edition as an LP on vinyl.

A year later, Edward (who no longer liked the "Eddie" version of his name) fired Sammy Hagar, with whom the group's relationship had completely deteriorated. Following this, Edward invited David Lee Roth back. Collaboration with him resulted in the recording of two songs for the collection “Best Of Volume 1”. Lee Roth didn't have enough for more and he leaves again. Although in September of the same 1996, David was present with the group at the MTV Video Awards.

Gary Cherone era (1996-99)

In October 1996, Gary Cherone took the place of vocalist after a painful search - former member group Extreme. A disc was recorded with it Van Halen III, released in 1998. After recording Troika, the group held a concert tour. The single “Without You” hit the top of the charts, but the album itself was a complete failure. Despite the fact that Cherone fit into the group very well, showing himself to be an excellent frontman at concerts, he did not stay in the group. After these events, the group suspended its activities for several years.

Sammy Haggar, besides solo activities, started producing his own tequila “Cabo Wabo”. Michael Anthony - producing his signature hot sauces.

It wasn't until 2003 that another Van Halen tour was announced. Sammy Hagar, who returned to the group, took the place of vocalist. However, the relationship with him did not work out again. Relations with Michael Anthony also deteriorated. According to Edward, Van Halen needs Sammy to advertise their booze, and Michael needs his hot sauces. During the tour, “Mad Anthony” was sometimes replaced on bass by young Wolfgang Van Halen, Edward’s son and, accordingly, Alex’s nephew.

Reunion with Roth (2006–present)

In 2006, Wolfgang officially took the place of bass guitarist in the group, and David Lee Roth took the place of vocalist, reuniting with the group again. Van Halen still exists in this lineup. In 2009, Van Halen toured the United States on a large scale. The performances took place in crowded halls. As the tour progressed, the band's management had to organize additional shows because the tickets were completely sold out in advance.

On July 3, 2008, Van Halen played to a crowd of 85,000 people at the Quebec City Summer Festival.

On February 7, 2012, the group released a new studio album - A Different Kind of Truth .

• In the movie "Back to the Future" main character Marty, trying to convince his teenage father in the past to date his mother, comes to him at night in an anti-radiation suit, calling himself Darth Vader, and wakes him up by playing Van Halen music through the player. At the same time, Marty threatened to melt his father’s brains. However, this refers not to Van Halen, but to Edward Van Halen. If you look closely, you can see a small note “Edward” on the cassette. To use the group's name in the film, the consent of all its members was required. This could not be done, and the producers secured the consent (and name) of only the leader of the group. The song featured in this episode is called "Untitled".
• Dimebag Darrell, guitarist for Pantera, was a big Van Halen fan.
• The group used the requirement to provide M&M's without candies Brown in the middle of a description of the technical requirements for a scene in order to check whether the performer has read the contract. Van Halen had special requirements for the strength of the stage, which had to be met for the safety of the audience and the band members themselves. If there were no candies in the locker room or there were brown ones, then the manager of the group could immediately tell whether the organizers were attentive to the requirements and whether they needed to go check the stage for compliance with the terms of the contract.
• Jimmy Murison, current guitarist for Nazareth, considers Edward Van Halen to be his idol and teacher.
• Edward Van Halen was voted the best guitarist of all time by Guitar World magazine. The vote, which was attended by almost half a million people, took place from April to October 2012.
• In the sixth episode of the seventeenth season of the TV series South Park, Van Halen became a symbol of the united religion of Jews, Christians and Muslims.
• In the first episode of the fourth season of Dr. House, Gregory House plays Van Halen songs.
• In the Minions cartoon, Stewart plays the Eruption guitar solo and then smashes his guitar.
• In the action movie Lethal Weapon 4, a maniac with a flamethrower plays the song “Fire In The Hole” on his player.

Compound

Current lineup

• Eddie Van Halen - guitar, keyboards, backing vocals (1972-present)
• Alex Van Halen - drums (1972-present)
• David Lee Roth - vocals (1974-1985, 1996, 2006-present)
• Wolfgang Van Halen - bass guitar, backing vocals (2006-present)

Former members

• Mark Stone - bass guitar, backing vocals (1972-1974)
• Michael Anthony - bass guitar, keyboards, backing vocals (1974-2006)
• Sammy Hagar - vocals, guitar (1985-1996, 2003-2005)
• Gary Cherone - vocals (1996-1999)

Timeline

Discography

Studio albums

• Van Halen (1978)
• Van Halen II (1979)
• Women and Children First (1980)
• Fair Warning (1981)
• Diver Down (1982)
• (1984)
• (1986)
• OU812 (1988)
• For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge (1991)
• Balance (1995)
• Van Halen III (1998)
• A Different Kind of Truth (2012)

Concert tours

Van Halen(also abbreviated VH) - American hard rock band.

The group continues intensive touring. In 1993, using material recorded during the tour, Van Halen released their first live album. .

Video on the topic

• In the movie "Back to the Future", the main character Marty, trying to convince his teenage father to date his mother in the past, comes to him at night in an anti-radiation suit, calling himself Darth Vader, and wakes him up by playing music through the player. Van Halen. At the same time, Marty threatened to melt his father’s brains. However, the reference here is not to Van Halen, but to Edward Van Halen. If you look closely, you can see a small note “Edward” on the cassette. To use the group's name in the film, the consent of all its members was required. This could not be done, and the producers secured the consent (and name) of only the leader of the group. The song featured in this episode is called "Untitled".
• Dimebag Darrell, guitarist for Pantera, was a big fan of the band Van Halen.
• The band used the requirement to provide M&M's without brown candies in the middle of the rider's description in order to check whether the performer had read the contract. Van Halen had special requirements for the strength of the stage, which had to be met for the safety of the audience and the band members themselves. If the candy was not in the locker room or there were brown people there, then the manager of the group could immediately tell whether the organizers were attentive to the requirements and whether it was necessary to go check the stage for compliance with the terms of the contract.
• Jimmy Murison, current guitarist for Nazareth, considers Edward Van Halen to be his idol and teacher. [ ]
• Edward Van Halen was voted the best guitarist of all time by Guitar World magazine. The vote, which was attended by almost half a million people, took place from April to October 2012.
• In the sixth episode of the seventeenth season of the series South Park Van Halen became a symbol of the united religion of Jews, Christians and Muslims.
• In the first episode of the fourth season of the series Dr. House, Gregory House plays songs Van Halen.
• In the Minions cartoon, Stewart plays the Eruption guitar solo and then smashes his guitar.
• In the action movie “Lethal Weapon 4,” the song “Fire In The Hole” is played on the player of a maniac with a flamethrower.
• In the twenty-second episode of the eleventh season of the TV series The Simpsons, in order to reconcile the Simpsons, musician Willie Nelson arranges their award ceremony prestigious award, but each separately. The Simpsons, to their surprise, learn that each of them should receive a bonus only during the award ceremony. To Lisa’s question: “So this was all a trick to get us together?” Willie Nelson replies: “Well, I was also trying to reconcile Van Halen and Sammy Hagar.” Next, a scene is shown where Van Halen, along with the band members and Sammy Hagar, pointedly turn away from each other.

Compound

Current lineup

• Eddie Van Halen (Edward Van Halen) - guitar, keyboards, backing vocals, vocals (1972-1974); guitar, keyboards, backing vocals (1974-present)
• Alex Van Halen - drums (1972-present)
• David Lee Roth - vocals (1974-1985, 1996, 2006-present)
• Wolfgang Van Halen - bass, backing vocals (2006-present)

Former members

• Mark Stone - bass guitar, backing vocals (1972-1974)
• Michael Anthony - bass guitar, keyboards, backing vocals (1974-2006)
• Sammy Hagar - vocals, guitar (1985-1996, 2003-2005)
• Gary Cherone - vocals (1996-1999)

Timeline

Discography

• Van Halen (1978)
• Van Halen II (1979)
• Women and Children First (1980)
• Fair Warning (1981)
• Diver Down (1982)
• (1984)
• (1986)
• OU812 (1988)
• For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge (1991)
• Balance (1995)
• Van Halen III (1998)
• A Different Kind of Truth (2012)

Concert tours

This one of the most famous American hard rock bands originated in 1973 in Pasadena, California. Eddie Van Halen (b. January 26, 1957, Nijmegen, Netherlands; guitar, keyboards), Alex Van Halen (b. May 8, 1955, Nijmegen, Netherlands; drums) and Michael Anthony (b. June 20, 1955, Chicago, USA; bass ), who played in Broken Combs, persuaded vocalist David Lee Roth (b. October 10, 1954, Bloomington, Indiana, ... Read all

This one of the most famous American hard rock bands originated in 1973 in Pasadena, California. Eddie Van Halen (b. January 26, 1957, Nijmegen, Netherlands; guitar, keyboards), Alex Van Halen (b. May 8, 1955, Nijmegen, Netherlands; drums) and Michael Anthony (b. June 20, 1955, Chicago, USA; bass ), who played in Broken Combs, persuaded vocalist David Lee Roth (b. October 10, 1954, Bloomington, Indiana, USA) to leave the Real Ball Jets and join them. Having received the latter's consent, they changed the name of their group to "Mammoth". Performing cover versions of famous hard rock songs from the late 60s and early 70s, the guys performed in bars and clubs in Los Angeles virtually non-stop throughout the mid-70s.

It was at one of these performances that Kiss bassist Gene Simmons noticed them. He was amazed by the energy with which they excited the audience, and bright talent their vocalist. Simmons began producing Mammoth demos, but, oddly enough, most major record companies refused to sign the band. It was then discovered that their name had already been registered, so the guys had to change it. Roth suggested we call ourselves simply Van Halen.

On Simmons' recommendation, producer Ted Templeman took over the band's affairs. He liked the team and eventually convinced Warner Brothers to sign a contract with them. Under Templeman's leadership, Van Halen entered the studio, resulting in their self-titled debut album in 1978. The release was well received by critics and received comparisons to Montrose's 1974 debut. It featured a unique fusion of the energy and virtuosity of Eddie Van Halen's guitar and Roth's self-assured vocals. The album sold two million copies within 12 months, peaking at number 19 on the Billboard charts. The disc sold successfully and subsequently sold more than 9 million copies in the United States by 1996. Guitar Player magazine named Eddie Van Halen "Best New Guitarist of 1978."

"Van Halen II", made in the same vein as its predecessor, was no less successful. Roth's antics on stage became even more sensational - he was a Showman with capital letters, who skillfully combined theatrical tricks with a stunning voice, achieving great effect. On the album "Women and children first", the group deviated slightly from their previous style, starting experiments with the use of synthesizers. This trend continued to develop on Fair Warning, where the musicians' style was completely different from theirs. early work. "Diver down" turned out to be Van Halen's weakest album, because... the most decent tracks here were cover versions of compositions from the 60s. But the band’s numerous fans continued to buy up their records, and this disc, like all previous ones, received platinum. Eddie Van Halen participated as a guest in the recording of Michael Jackson's next hit, "Beat it" in February 1983.

The album “1984” returned Van Halen to lost ground. Led by the song "Jump" (No. 1 in the US and No. 7 in the UK), the album stayed at number two in the US charts for five weeks. The whole raspberry was ruined by Roth, who left the group in 1985 to pursue solo career. We had to accept ex-Montrose vocalist Sammi Hagar (b. October 13, 1947, Monterey, USA) into the team to fill the vacant position. The group did not give in to pressure from the record company to change their name, and updated composition released "5150" in June 1986. The accompanying single "Why Can't This Be Love" reached number 3 on the Billboard charts and number 8 in England, while the album itself was the first in their discography to reach number 1 on the US charts and remains their the most sold-out disc to date.

“OU812” turned out to be more mediocre, although it also occupied the top lines of the US charts for some time. For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge (F.U.C.K. for short) had some problems during its release. However musical material on an album with such a cool name, it was an impeccable collection of compositions by uncompromising rockers. The group again confirmed its success and entered the 90s on a new creative wave - it goes without saying that the disc received platinum status. Their live album served as the prototype for their next release, “Balance.” Van Halen's popularity seemed to remain immune to the ravages of time or fashion. The group's best-of compilation, released in 1996, topped the Billboard charts, although this is very unusual for compilations.

After long and persistent rumors that Hagar had fallen out with other members of the group, the latter left the lineup in 1996. Fans immediately rejoiced when it was announced that David Lee Roth would be returning to the team. But a few months later, he made a statement ruling out his further involvement with Van Halen. The vacancy was filled by Gary Cherone (b. July 26, 1961, Malden, USA) shortly after the announcement of the dissolution of Extreme in October 1996.

After several years creative downtime, Eddie Van Halen's battle with cancer, the band eventually reunited in 2004 with Sammy Hagar as vocalist. A double compilation was released best songs group, “The Best of Both Worlds,” which included three new songs. This was followed by a large-scale six-month tour of the United States, and despite the fact that after this tour the group entered the list of the most successful touring acts in the United States, many were unhappy with the performance of Eddie, who sometimes performed while heavily intoxicated, and this had an extremely negative impact on the quality of the performance. After the end of the tour, Sammy Hagar left the band and Michael Anthony was fired.

Van Halen(Van Halen, Van Halen) - an outstanding American hard rock (heavy metal) band.

In 1972, in Pasadena, California, brothers Edward and Alex Van Halen formed a rock band called Mammoth. Vocalist David Lee Roth joined in 1973, and bassist Michael Anthony joined in 1974. In the same 1974, the group received its current name “Van Halen”.

Story

Originally from Holland, brothers Edward and Alex grew up in musical family. Their mother Eugenia is a native of the island of Java (Indonesia), their father Jan Van Halen is a native of Sweden, professional musician- saxophonist. In 1962, the van Halen family emigrated to Pasadena, California - USA (changing their last name to Van Halen).

From early childhood, the children had a musical education, like everyone else in the family - both took piano classes. While learning other instruments to play more modern music, Alex mastered the guitar and Eddie mastered the drums. But at some point the brothers swapped instruments. As a result, the whole world knows Eddie as a virtuoso electric guitarist and guitar designer, and Alex as a recognizable and textured rock drummer.

In 1972, the brothers organized their own rock band called “Mammoth”: Edward - guitar and lead vocals, Alex - drums, Mark Stone (Mark Stone) - bass guitar. At that time, the guys did not have their own sound reinforcement equipment, so for performances they were forced to pay $50 per evening to rent a mixing console, amplifiers and speakers. The owner of the equipment was one of the musicians of the local group “The Red Ball Jets”. It was Eddie who decided to invite him to the group as the main vocalist: firstly, to save money on rent; secondly, he himself hated singing. Thus, in 1973, vocalist David Lee Roth (born October 10, 1954, Bloomington, Indiana, USA) became the fourth member. David's family is a family of doctors: David's ancestors in the second generation, Jewish doctors, emigrated to Indiana from Russia. Later, in 1974, there was another change in the group: Mark Stone was replaced by new bassist Michael Anthony (Michael Anthony - full name Michael Anthony Sobolewski, b. June 20, 1954, Chicago, Illinois USA). Michael's parents emigrated to the United States from Poland.

Over time, it became clear that a group called “Mammoth” already existed. Then the band members took a very simple step: they began to call themselves “Van Halen”. Thus, 1974 became the starting point of the quartet’s history.

The group's first demo, produced by Kiss musician Gene Simmons, with the songs "House of Pain" and "Running with the Devil", was a complete failure. A year later, in 1977, Warner Bros producer Ted Templeman began working with the group, taking the musicians under his wing.

Collaboration with Ted Templeman turned out to be an important stage in the life of the group; the musicians received a contract with the record company Warner Bros. Records". And already in 1978, the company released its first album, called “Van Halen,” which made the group world famous. The band's success comes from Roth's unique vocals and Eddie Van Halen's unique guitar technique. The album took 12th place on Billboard. Three months after its release, the album received gold status, and three more months later it received platinum status. Currently, the album has diamond status: in total, more than 10 million copies have been sold worldwide. Also in 1978, Edward Van Halen was recognized as the best debut guitarist of the year.

The following year, 1979, the group released its second, no less successful album, Van Halen II. The single with the song “Dance The Night Away” entered the American Top 20, and the album itself received platinum status less than 2 months after its release.

The group's third album, "Women and Children First", released in 1980, revealed another facet of the musicians' creativity - experimental. In particular, Eddie uses an unusual combination of guitar and keyboard instruments here (remember his main musical specialty). The album took 6th place on Billboard and repeated the platinum success of the previous one. However, it did not have any hits that reached any position on the charts. Following the album's release, Van Halen embarked on their first large-scale world tour.

1981 brought fans Van Halen's fourth disc, "Fair Warning", which was somewhat darker, although this album contained many interesting moments in terms of Eddie's playing technique. Despite the fact that the group's popularity remained high, the disc sold significantly worse than its previous ones.

The group's next long-playing disc, "Diver Down", released in 1982, was mainly a set of cover versions of songs by other famous performers, in particular the super hit “Pretty Woman” by Roy Orbison. Eddie and Alex's father, Ian Van Halen, took part in the recording of the album and played clarinet. Despite the cool attitude towards the last disc, Van Halen's popularity was extremely high - their concerts attracted huge stadiums of fans, tickets for which were sold out long before the performances.

At the beginning of January 1984, Van Halen's sixth disc, entitled “1984,” went on sale in the United States. Here, for the first time, Eddie gives full rein to the keyboards, on which the leading parts are performed in many songs. This album sounds completely different from all the band's previous albums. The songs "Panama", "I'll Wait" and "Jump" soared to the top of the charts, with the latter taking first place. It was truly a brilliant work, representing a major breakthrough both musically and commercially. The disc repeated the success of the debut, and in some respects even surpassed it, becoming another platinum album in the group's history. (It is noteworthy that in Europe this album went on sale a little earlier - at the end of 1983.)

Shortly after the release of "1984", David Lee Roth finally fell out with the rest of the musicians, and in 1985 he left the group. The vocalist position in the group is taken by Sammy Hagar (Sammy "Sammy" Hagar, born October 13, 1947, Monterey, California, USA). In addition to performing vocal parts, Sammy played lead and rhythm guitar, which gave Eddie the opportunity at concerts to reveal his talent not only as a guitarist, but also as a keyboard player.

The first album released by Van Halen with the new lineup in 1986 was called "5150" (a code used by the US police to denote a psychopathic maniac). In fact, that was the name of the studio where the group worked. Singles with songs from this album continually appeared at the top of the charts. The album itself, like some previous ones, received platinum status.

The next album of the new Van Halen, OU812, practically repeated the success of 5150. The album's title contained an ironic response to David Lee Roth's first solo album, Eat "Em And Smile". If you read the title "OU812" character by character, you'll get English phrase“Oh You Ate One Too,” which can be translated roughly like this: “So you eat this too.” Eddie and Alex dedicated this disc to the memory of their father Ian Van Halen, who died in 1986. On the tab are written the words “This one’s for you, Pa.” (This is for you, dad)…

“For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge,” which was released in 1991, also went “Platinum” (the title contains an obscene acronym). For this album, Van Halen received an award at the 34th Grammy Awards in the category “Best Hard Rock Performance with Vocals.”

At the same time, Eddie and Alex officially introduced a new guitar amplifier, the 5150. It was created by Peavey under the direct supervision and participation of Eddie Van Halen. This happened at the 1992 Winter NAMM show in Anaheim (California).

The group continues intensive touring. In 1993, using material recorded during the tour, Van Halen released a live CD, Right Here, Right Now.

In 1995, Van Halen's most significant and powerful work, “Balance,” was released. When recording the album, Eddie used a prototype of the new Wolfgang guitar, which he created for Peavey and named after his son. In addition, a new guitar amplifier, the 5150, was used. Here the creativity of each of the musicians, especially Sammy Haggar, as a vocalist, was most fully and vividly revealed. For many fans of Van Halen, the album “Balance” is considered the pinnacle of creation, leaving even “1984” and “Van Halen” in the shadows. Naturally for the time, the main pressing of "Balance" was released on CD, but in addition it was also pressed in a limited edition as an LP on vinyl.

A year later, Edward (who no longer liked the "Eddie" version of his name) fired Sammy Hagar, with whom the group's relationship had completely deteriorated. Following this, Edward invited David Lee Roth back. Collaboration with him resulted in the recording of two songs for the collection “Best Of Volume 1”. Lee Roth didn't have enough for more and he leaves again. Although in September of the same 1996, David was present with the group at the MTV Video Awards.

The place of the vocalist, after a painful search, was taken by Gary Cherone, a former member of the group “Extreme”. The disc “Van Halen III” was recorded with him, released in 1998. After recording Troika, the group held a concert tour. The single “Without You” hit the top of the charts, but the album itself was a complete failure. Despite the fact that Cherone fit into the group very well, showing himself to be an excellent frontman at concerts, he did not stay in the group. After these events, the group suspended its activities for several years.

Sammy Haggar, in addition to his solo activities, began producing his own tequila, Cabo Wabo. Michael Anthony - producing his signature hot sauces.

It wasn't until 2003 that another Van Halen tour was announced. Sammy Hagar, who returned to the group, took the place of vocalist. However, the relationship with him did not work out again. Relations with Michael Anthony also deteriorated. According to Edward, Van Halen needs Sammy to advertise their booze, and Michael needs his hot sauces. During the tour, “Mad Anthony” was sometimes replaced on bass by young Wolfgang Van Halen, Edward’s son and, accordingly, Alex’s nephew.

In 2006, Wolfgang officially took the place of bass guitarist in the group, and David Lee Roth took the place of vocalist, reuniting with the group again. Van Halen still exists in this lineup. In 2009, Van Halen toured the United States on a large scale. The performances took place in crowded halls. As the tour progressed, the band's management had to organize additional shows because the tickets were completely sold out in advance.

The musicians are currently planning to record a new album.