Before the Fame, Eddie Van Halen Experienced and Overcame a “Horrifying Racist Environment”

Eddie Van Halen is one of the most interesting men to have ever graced the music industry. His guitar skills are not only one-of-a-kind but also monumentally influential. In addition to Van Halen’s musical talents, another facet of his character that makes him a very intriguing character is his diverse international background. However, this international diversity to not bode him well early on in his life and career. Though evidently, Van Halen overcame the bigotry and scrutiny and became arguably the best guitarist to pick up the instrument.

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Born in 1955 in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Eddie Van Halen was the son of a Dutch father and an Indonesian mother. His father was a jazz and classical musician, as well as an employee of the Dutch Air Force. Furthermore, Van Halen’s mother, Eugenia, was a maid in order to help support the family. Needless to say, Van Halen received his musical affinity from his father and his tenacity from his mother. Both factors unarguably helped him become one of the greatest guitarists of all time.

Before his fame, Eddie Van Halen and his family moved to Pasadena, California, in search of the American Dream and plentiful opportunity. Though, as it goes for Eddie Van Halen, he was met with loads of bigotry and hate. However, that didn’t stop him from becoming the premier guitarist of the ’80s.

Sammy Hagar Chimes in on Eddie Van Halen’s Childhood

In a 2019 interview with NBC shortly before Van Halen’s death, Sammy Hagar attested to the judgment Van Halen and his family received before and after their move to the United States. Haggar stated, “It was a big deal. Those homeboys grew up in a horrifying racist environment to where they actually had to leave the country.”

Haggar added, “Then they came to America and did not speak English as a first language in the early ’60s. Wow. So that kind of sparking, that kind of stuff, that runs deep.” Eddie Van Halen also spoke about the unfair treatment he and his family received both in Holland and in the United States.

He told Denise Quan in 2017, “We already went through that in Holland, you know, first day, first grade. Now, you’re in a whole other country where you can’t speak the language, and you know absolutely nothing about anything and it was beyond frightening.” “I don’t even know how to explain but I think it made us stronger because you had to be,” concluded Van Halen.

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