Today is Alex Van Halen's Birthday!
Born in Amsterdam, he and his brother Edward moved to America and co-founded Van Halen, in 1972 by Van Halen, when the band changed their name from "Mammoth" after adding Michael Anthony and David Lee Roth.
Warner Bros. signed the band in 77, and their self-titled debut was released a year later. Although, Edward's genius guitar play utterly changed the foundations of rock music, Alex's free flowing hard driving style also became a template for new drummers coming up in the decade to follow. Alex would play off of Ed's acrobatic play to create a sound that too hard rock into glam metal and created a genre that was panned by most for not being up to par with the band that created it. Hair metal bands galore would attempt to imitate the look and sound of the Van Halen brothers only to be hated and laughed at for falling way short of the goal.
With each album Alex would have a different, yet experimental drum set that would wow the crowd as much as Eddie's solos and Dave's stage show. The combination of their showmanship made Van Halen one of the most influential bands in the history of rock music.
Happy Birthday Alex, your name is forever ingrained in the lexicon of rock!