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* '''[[Alex Van Halen]]'''
* '''[[Peter Criss]]'''
* '''[[Daniel Erlandsson]]'''
Alex Van Halen was born in Amsterdam.His Dutch father Jan (b. 1920) was an accomplished jazz saxophonist and clarinet player. His mother Eugenia (b. 1914) is an Indo (Eurasian) from Indonesia. '''He spent his childhood in Nijmegen in the east of the country'''. The family moved to Pasadena, California in 1962.
'''Both Alex and Eddie Van Halen were trained as classical pianists in their childhood'''. Although Alex is known as a professional drummer, he began his musical aspirations as a guitarist, with his brother Eddie taking up drums. '''While Eddie was delivering newspapers to pay for his drum kit, Alex would practice playing on them'''. When Eddie heard Alex's mastery of The Surfaris drum solo in the song "Wipe Out", he decided to begin learning to play the electric guitar. He was also influenced by Budgie drummer, Ray Phillips.
'''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, Al was busy handling managerial duties, such as booking gigs, etc. for the band. Their 1978 album Van Halen was released to much fanfare, influencing many musicians in hard rock.'''
'''In spite of the fact that the term "brown sound" is generally associated with Eddie's guitar, Alex originated the term to refer to the sound of his snare drum.'''
'''At live shows, Alex is known for being an entertainer, performing aggressive drum solos and stage pyrotechnics.'''
'''The only non–Van Halen example of Alex's musicianship can be found on the soundtrack to the movie Twister.''' '''The instrumental "Respect the Wind" (for which the Van Halen brothers were nominated for a Grammy Award in 1997 for Best Rock Instrumental Performance) features Alex on keyboards (with Eddie on guitar). The song was used for the movie soundtrack Twister and plays during the end credits of the movie.'''
'''A long-time Paiste endorser since March 1983, Alex in co-operation with Paiste developed his signature ride which is a 2002 24" Big ride and was introduced on the 2010 Winter NAMM Show.'''
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