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Revision as of 20:54, 25 January 2003 by EVHagar5150 (talk | contribs)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Van Halen is a US hard rock band named after the guitarist Eddie van Halen and his brother, drummer Alex van Halen. The band also included David Lee Roth (1973-1984), Sammh Hagar (1984-1998), and Gary Cherone (1998-1999) on vocals and Michael Anthony on bass. Originally named 'Rat Salade' after the Black Sabbath song, Van Halen was suggested by original lead singer David Lee Roth.
Their debut, self-titled album was released in 1979 and featured a new soloing technique called Finger Tapping, a neck-technique utilizing both left and right hands on the neck.
Van Halen's most sucessful album, sales-wise, was Roth's departing album, 1984, released in 1984. After the subsequent tour, Roth was either dismissed by guitarist Eddie Van Halen or walked out on the band, according to different reports. Soon after, singer/guitarist/song-writer Sammy Hagar was recruited because of a previous tour with Hagar's former band Montrose.
Van Halen's period with Sammy Hagar was a marked by two trends, an upward trend in the charters, and one of growing resentment of the departure of Roth. Hagar's lyrics were, on the whole, more serious, something die-hard, traditional Van Halen fans missed when comparing to Roth's early 80s party, 'hair' influneces.
Van Halen's most successful ablum, Balance, resulting in a #1 on the Billboard, of 1996 was Hagar's last. Following was a very short lived attempt of a reunion with David Lee Roth which was ended at the Video Music Awards after Roth and Edward Van Halen swapped words.
Gary Cherone was now recruited from his band Extreme to sing for Van Halen, resulting in a dismall failure in sales of a very experimental album, Van Halen 3. Cherone split amicably with the band after the VH3 Tour.
Since 1998, the music of Van Halen has been non-existant, lacking a lead singer. Eddie Van Halen went through cancer treatement in 2001 and has since recovered.
In the summer of 2002, Sammy Hagar and David Lee Roth teamed up to tour in the "Heavyweights of Rock" tour, or 'Sans-Halen' Tour.