Edward Lodewijk Van Halen (/væn ˈheɪlɛn/ van HAY-len; January 26, 1955 – October 6, 2020) was a Dutch-born American musician, songwriter, producer, and inventor. He was the main songwriter and founder—with brother and drummer Alex Van Halen, bassist Mark Stone, and singer David Lee Roth—of the American rock band Van Halen. In 2012, he was voted number one in a Guitar World magazine reader's poll for "The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time".
Eddie and Alex Van Halen formed a band in 1972. In 1974, the band changed its name to Van Halen, and Van Halen became a staple of the Los Angeles music scene during the mid-1970s, playing at well-known clubs like the Whisky a Go Go. In 1977, Warner Bros. Records offered the band a recording contract, and they released their debut album, Van Halen.
Upon its release, Van Halen reached No. 19 on the Billboard pop music charts, becoming one of rock's most commercially successful debuts. It was highly regarded as both a heavy metal and hard rock album. By the early 1980s, Van Halen was one of the most successful rock acts of the time. The album 1984 went five-times platinum after a year of release. The lead single "Jump" became the band's first and only No. 1 pop hit and garnered them a Grammy nomination.
The band won the 1992 Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance with Vocal for the album For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge. As of March 2019, the band is 20th on the RIAA list of best-selling artists in the United States; it has sold 56 million albums in the States and more than 80 million worldwide. Additionally, Van Halen has charted 13 number-one hits in the history of Billboard's Mainstream Rock chart. VH1 ranked the band seventh on a list of the top 100 hard rock artists of all time. In January 2007, Van Halen was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Eddie Van Halen has received acclaim for his guitar work in the band.
Here are the Billboard Top 40 hits for Van Halen.
Year Song Title Peak Position on Billboard Top 40 Chart
1978 - "You Really Got Me" - 36
1979 - "Dance The Night Away" - 15
1982 - "(Oh) Pretty Woman" - 12
1982 - "Dancing In The Street" - 28
1983 - "Jump" - 1
1984 - "I'll Wait" - 13
1984 - "Panama" - 13
1986 - "Why Can't This Be Love" - 3
1986 - "Dreams" - 22
1986 - "Love Walks In" - 22
1988 - "Black And Blue" - 34
1988 - "When It's Love" - 5
1988 - "Finish What Ya Started" - 13
1988 - "Feels So Good" - 35
1991 - "Top of The World" - 27
1995 - "Can't Stop Lovin' You" - 30