Alex Van Halen

His son Aric is a passionate runner and competed in the Olympic trials for the steeplechase in 2016.

Van Halen has become an ordained minister and presided at the wedding of his brother Eddie in 2009.

The only recording Alex has made outside of Van Halen is the instrumental "Respect the Wind" (for which the Van Halen brothers were nominated for a Grammy Award in 1997 for Best Rock Instrumental Performance), featuring Alex on keyboards with Eddie on guitar. The song was written for the 1996 film Twister and plays during the end credits of the movie.

Alex married Valeri Kendall in June 1983, after a two-year engagement. The marriage ended in divorce two months later. Van Halen's first of two sons, Aric Van Halen, was born October 6, 1989; Aric's mother was Van Halen's ex-wife, Kelly Carter, whom he divorced in August 1996 after 13 years of marriage. Van Halen married his current wife, Stine Schyberg, in 2000. She is the mother of his son Malcolm Van Halen. Van Halen is the uncle of Wolfgang Van Halen.

After the death of his father Jan in December 1986, Van Halen embraced sobriety in April 1987.

Van Halen endorses Ludwig drums, pedals and hardware, Paiste cymbals, Remo drumheads and Regaltip drumsticks. A Paiste endorser since March 1983, Van Halen, in co-operation with Paiste developed a signature ride cymbal—a 2002 24" Big ride—which Paiste introduced at the 2010 Winter NAMM Show. He also had two Ludwig signature snares. Alex has used Rototoms and octobans in the past as well as electronic drums and is renowned for using extravagantly sized drum kits that feature four bass drums, having originally used only two.

In 1972, Alex and Eddie Van Halen formed Mammoth with Mark Stone on bass and Eddie on lead vocals. The band rented David Lee Roth's PA system for their shows. Soon after, Edward became tired of singing lead vocals, and asked Roth to join the band. Later, in 1974, since the name Mammoth was already taken by another band, the name was changed to Van Halen, and Stone was replaced by Michael Anthony. Roth has claimed that it was his idea to rename the band Van Halen, and that he actually named it after Alex. In addition to his musical duties at this time, Alex handled managerial duties, such as booking gigs, etc. for the band. Their 1978 self-titled debut album Van Halen was released to much fanfare, influencing many musicians in hard rock.

In 1971, Van Halen graduated from Pasadena High School in California. He then took classes in music theory, scoring, composition and arranging at Pasadena City College for a short while. While attending Pasadena City College, Alex met Michael Anthony and David Lee Roth. They formed the band Mammoth, and Alex, along with the others, left Pasadena City College.

Alexander Arthur van Halen (Dutch: [ɑlɛkˈsɑndər ˈɑrtʏr vɑnˈhaːlə(n)] ; born May 8, 1953 in Amsterdam) is an American musician who is the drummer and co-founder of the hard rock band Van Halen. The band was formed in 1974 by Alex Van Halen; his younger brother, Eddie Van Halen; David Lee Roth; and Michael Anthony. Warner Brothers signed the band in 1977, and its debut album was released in 1978. Alex and Eddie Van Halen are the only members of Van Halen who have been in the band throughout its existence.

Alexander Arthur Van Halen was born in Amsterdam. His Dutch father, Jan van Halen (1920–1986), was an accomplished jazz saxophonist and clarinet player. His mother, Eugenia van Beers (1914–2005), was an Indo (Eurasian) from Rangkasbitung, Indonesia. Alex spent his early years in Nijmegen in the east of the Netherlands. The family moved to Pasadena, California in 1962. Both Alex and his younger brother, Eddie, are naturalized U.S. citizens.