Eddie Van Halen is undoubtedly one of the best rock guitarists of all time.  Edward Lodewijk Van Halen was born on January 26, 1955, in the Netherlands, before his father moved the entire family to the U.S.A in the mid-1960's.

Eddie and brother Alex started playing instruments when they were young and it was actually Alex who would play the guitar and Eddie who would bang away at the drums.  They switched their respective roles when it was evident that Alex was a much better drummer than Eddie.

The Van Halen brothers started playing at various clubs in the L.A. area and hooked up with singer David Lee Roth and Michael Anthony in the early 1970's.  They were first known as "Mammoth", but changed their name to Van Halen by the mid-1970's.

Van Halen signed with Warner Bros. in 1977 and had released hit albums since the early 1980's.  The band had gone through multiple changes with lead singers from David Lee Roth to Sammy Hager and finally former Extreme lead singer Gary Cherone.  They release their album "Van Halen III" in 1998 and Cherone as the lead vocals.

Unfortunately Eddie developed an alcohol problem over the years and most recently tongue cancer in 1999.  Eddie, who has been a lifelong smokers, was diagnosed with a lump in his tongue as malignant. He stopped smoking and even had to have a portion of his tongue removed in 2000, but the cancer returned a few months later after Eddie started smoking again.

The battles with his health and band members proved to be tough on his marriage to actress Valerie Bertanelli and they separated in October 2001.  They still see each other every day and Eddie looks after their son, Wolfgang, when Bertanelli is filming on the set of "Touched By An Angel.