Born in Amsterdam in 1955, Eddie’s first instrument was actually the piano, then followed by drums...while his brother Alex took up the guitar. They realized pretty quickly that each was born to play the other instrument...which turned out to be a pretty good decision. The brothers actually put their first band together in elementary school called “The Broken Combs.” In 1972, Eddie and Alex formed the band “Mammoth”...then two years later recruited David Lee Roth to be their singer and changed the name to simply “Van Halen.” While often being credited with inventing the tapping technique of guitar-playing...it was actually created by Genesis guitarist at the time Steve Hackett who was a huge influence on Eddie. He then took the technique to an entirely different level....frustrating many guitar players who tried unsuccessfully to duplicate it for years. I’ve always considered “Fair Warning” to be Van Halen’s best work as a band...so I’ve featured a great live performance of “Unchained” from their 1981 tour to give you your Eddie fix for the day.