Eddie Van Halen 060

Look closer for four band member names, one lyric, and thirteen song titles: Sammy Hagar, Michael Anthony, David Lee Roth and Alex Van Halen; “Ain’t got nobody waitin’ at home” (Runnin’ with the Devil); You Really Got Me; Dreams; Jamie’s Cryin’; When It’s Love; Dance the Night Away; Beautiful Girls; Finish What Ya Started; Right Now; Amsterdam; Jump; Panama; Hot for Teacher; Why Can’t This Be Love

Edward Lodewijk Van Halen (01/26/1955–10/6/2020) was an American musician and songwriter. He was best known as the guitarist, keyboardist, backing vocalist, and primary songwriter of the rock band Van Halen, co-founded in 1972. He is one of the greatest guitar players in rock history, and was well known for popularizing the tapping guitar solo technique, allowing rapid arpeggios to be played with two hands on the fretboard.

Eddie was born in Amsterdam the son of Jan van Halen and Eugenia (née van Beers). His father played Dutch jazz piano, clarinet, and saxophone. Eddie’s mother was an Indo (Eurasian) woman from Rangkasbitung on the island of Java in the Dutch East Indies. The family settle in Nijmegen, Netherlands.

After experiencing mistreatment for their mixed-race relationship in the 1950s, the parents moved the family to the U.S. in 1962. They settled near other family members in Pasadena, California, where Eddie and his brother Alex attended a segregated elementary school. Since the boys did not speak English as a first language, they were considered “minority” students and experienced bullying by white students. They began learning the piano at age six, commuting from Pasadena to San Pedro to study with an elderly piano teacher, Stasys Kalvaitis.

Van Halen was never taught to read music; instead, he watched recitals of Bach or Mozart and improvised. Between 1964 and 1967, he won first place in the annual piano competition at Long Beach City College. His parents wanted the boys to be classical pianists, but Van Halen gravitated towards rock music, and was greatly influenced by the British Invasion, The Beatles and The Dave Clark Five. When Alex began playing guitar, Eddie bought a drum kit; however, after he heard Alex’s performance of the Surfaris’ drum solo in the song “Wipe Out”, he gave Alex the drums and began learning the electric guitar. Eddie said as a teen he often practiced while walking around at home with his guitar strapped on, or sitting in his room for hours with the door locked.

Van Halen was an American rock band from Pasadena, CA. Credited with “restoring hard rock to the forefront of the music scene”, Van Halen was known for its energetic live shows and for the virtuosity of its lead guitarist, Eddie Van Halen. The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007.

From 1974 until 1985, Van Halen consisted of Eddie Van Halen; Eddie’s brother, drummer Alex Van Halen; vocalist David Lee Roth; and bassist/vocalist Michael Anthony. Upon its release in 1978, the band’s self-titled debut album reached No. 19 on the Billboard pop music charts and would sell over 10 million copies in the U.S. By 1982, the band released four more albums (Van Halen II, Women and Children First, Fair Warning, and Diver Down), all of which have since been certified multi-platinum. By the early 1980s, Van Halen was one of the most successful rock acts of the day. The album 1984 was a commercial success with U.S. sales of 10 million copies and four hit singles; its lead single, “Jump”, was the band’s only U.S. number one single.

In 1985, Roth left the band to embark on a solo career and was replaced by former Montrose lead vocalist Sammy Hagar. With Hagar, the group released four U.S. number-one, multi-platinum albums over the course of 11 years (5150 in 1986, OU812 in 1988, For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge in 1991, and Balance in 1995). Hagar left the band in 1996 shortly before the release of the band’s first greatest hits collection, Best Of – Volume I. Former Extreme frontman Gary Cherone replaced Hagar and recorded the commercially unsuccessful album Van Halen III with the band in 1998, before parting ways in 1999. Van Halen then went on hiatus until reuniting with Hagar in 2003 for a worldwide tour in 2004 and the double-disc greatest hits collection The Best of Both Worlds. Hagar again left Van Halen in 2005. In 2006 Roth returned, but Anthony was replaced on bass guitar by Eddie’s son, Wolfgang Van Halen. In 2012, the band released their final studio album A Different Kind of Truth, which was commercially and critically successful; it was also Van Halen’s first album with Roth in 28 years and the only one to feature Wolfgang.

 – credit wikipedia.com

Jokingly, when I said I’d be illustrating Eddie Van Halen, folks would tell of a line in a movie where the person wanted to listen to Van HALEN, not Van HAGAR. In my memory, David Lee Roth was the vocalist that made the band hit the ceiling in 1978. Also, the percussion and bass supported Eddie’s writing eloquently. I wanted to include Michael Anthony and Alex Van Halen in this visual report. . . There ARE hits Hagar sings: Dreams, Finish What Ya Started, Right Now, Amsterdam, and Why Can’t This Be Love. Back when I first heard, I thought Roth never left the band, he just stopped the super high bends at the end of his delivery. Tough for one vocalist to take the place of another. Especially considering Roth’s ability to screech really high. A credit to Eddie for being the glue that kept the band, the sound consistent. I really appreciate Sammy Hagar, so he’s in the drawing also. 

– Tobin Bortner

Digital Print on Archival Matte – Original illustration done in graphite and prisma colors: Crimson Red and black for Frankenstrat 2; Yellow Ochre and black for the Bumblebee; Slate Blue; and Dark Purple
Artist: Tobin Bortner of Bastrop, Texas – drawing done in July of 2022 – ©Tobin Signs, LLC/Look Closer Illustrations 

DERIVATIVE Work references: Face from zocalopunlicsquare_org – Eddie-Van-Halen; White EVH Wolfgang USA Guitar from thinkingofsth_com – van-halen-gty-er-201006_1602013612018_hpMain_16x9_1600-960×640; David Lee Roth from DLR from biography_com – van-halen-in-lewisham; Sammy Hagar from rockandrollgarage_com – Sammy-Hagar-1024×538; and Alex Van Halen from townsquare_media – Alex-Van-Halen

What you get:
$40 (36.95 + 3.05 tax)
11 x 14 Print Package with Authenticity Sheet
signed and numbered (run of 165)
Domestic Priority Mail $8 (Free shipping)