58 years ago today, Nathan Roth and Sibyl Roth celebrated the birth of their son, David. The young David would, in time, grow up to be one of the most important frontmen in American rock history. Okay, so the guitarist in his band is a more important figure in the overall history of rock, but Roth’s showmanship can’t be underestimated when it comes to the reasons how and why Van Halen became one of the biggest bands in the world during the 1980s. Anyway, it’s not his birthday today.
Van Halen

Van Halen was a hard rock band which formed in 1972 in Pasadena, California, United States. Van Halen is 20th on the RIAA list of best-selling artists in the United States; the band has sold 56 million albums in the States and more than 80 million worldwide, making them one of the best-selling groups of all time. As of 2007, Van Halen was one of only five rock bands with two studio albums that sold more than 10 million copies in the United States. Read more on Last.fm
Van Halen on Thrash Hits
2011 Album Preview: Van Halen – TBA
January 24th, 2011
Who do you want to see headline the summer festivals in 2011?
November 18th, 2010
With Andy Copping Twittering about having “two Download headliners locked in” and Sonisphere’s people flyering at the Deftones gig in Brixton last night, the UK summer festival season of 2011 is well and truly under way.
But who’s gonna be headlining? That’s what everyone really cares about. Bon Jovi, Iron Maiden and Foo Fighters are all surely out of the festival picture seeing as they’ve got their own massive shows to sell but there are still plenty of options.
Osama Bin Laden is a Van Halen fan too
September 18th, 2009
Uh huh. According to the 2007 autobiography of one of the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives, Osama Bin Laden likes to see girls dancing to Van Halen. Who the bleeding heck doesn’t?!
Eddie Van Halen gets Photoshopped
June 24th, 2008
Fresh from Van Halen completing their resheduled $93 million-grossing, North American tour dates to a million people, Eddie Van Halen (pictured above, rehearsing for the original dates in September 2007) has appeared on the cover of Guitar World magazine looking absolutely… bizarre.
First highlighted out on our favourite Photoshop disasters website, imaginitively titled PhotoshopDisasters.com, this really is a wonderful example of the camera might add 10lbs but the computer can remove weight, wrinkles, facial expressions, etc.
Take a look at just how dramatic Eddie Van Halen’s return is, right here. Yes, both men below are Eddie Van Halen.
Yeah, even though Eddie (left) can look a but ropey occasionally, we’re pretty sure he’s just not able to look as good as Eddie (right). This is just what computers can do these days. It’s pretty amazing, but nowhere near as amazing as what Van Halen can do.
Watch the video to ‘Jump’ by Van Halen