This week the world lost guitar god Eddie Van Halen after he passed away of throat cancer aged 65. He’s been remembered as a once-in-a-generation musician with remarkable talent.

Van Halen’s albums and tracks are legendary already, but Eddie’s lightning-quick fingers and fret-tapping technique was revolutionary. But there’s a lot more to Eddie and Van Halen than most know.

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10 Van Halen was first called The Broken Combs

Van Halen have had countless incarnations, with eight different members throughout their almost 50-year history. But they’ve also had plenty of identity changes, having originally been known as the Broken Combs when Eddie and Alex formed a band in high school in 1964. With Eddie on violin and Alex playing sax along with school mate Kevan Hill on cello, they played at school lunchrooms.

The Broken Combs lasted two years, before they moved up a few notches on the hard rock scale. In 1972 they called themselves The Trojan Rubber Co, before changing to Genesis. Given the name Genesis was being used by a popular English band, they changed again, this time to Mammoth, but again realized it was being used, albeit this time by a smaller LA band. They finally settled on Van Halen in 1974, allegedly driven by lead singer David Lee Roth, not either of the brothers despite the obvious link to their surname. Apparently one of the other name options was Rat Salade. Bullet dodged!^[1]

9 Gene Simmons wanted to call them Daddy Longlegs

Van Halen and Gene Simmons linked up in 1977 after the Kiss singer watched them live with well-known radio DJ Rodney Bingenheimer. Simmons would produce a 10-song demo tape for Van Halen, before their breakthrough self-titled debut album in 1978.

The group hoped the partnership with Simmons would help them get their break in the industry but ultimately it didn’t prove fruitful. Amid all that, Simmons is understood to have wanted them to re-name themselves again, this time to ‘Daddy Longlegs’ for reasons not disclosed. Long story short, Simmons couldn’t land a record deal for Van Halen so they went their separate ways. They also wisely stuck with the name Van Halen. But who knows, maybe the arachnid name may have grown on us?^[2]

8 Eddie & Alex were born in Amsterdam

They’ve always been seen as the hard rock band with ground-breaking guitar solos from Pasadena, LA. But it’s often not known that both Eddie and Alex were born in Amsterdam in the Netherlands and emigrated with their parents to the United States in their early years.

The brothers’ father, Jan, was actually a Dutch jazz musician. Jan was a talented pianist, clarinetist and saxophonist. In 1962, Jan and wife Eugenia relocated the family to LA, encouraged by stories from family members who’d previously emigrated. They left with only 75 guilders which equated to around US$40 at the time.

Interestingly, Van Halen’s song ‘Amsterdam’ on 1995 album ‘Balance’ wasn’t actually written by the Amsterdam-born brothers, but instead by latter lead singer Sammy Hagar.^[3]

7 Eddie met his first wife at a Van Halen gig

It’s rather cliché, but Eddie and his actress first wife Valerie Bertinelli crossed paths for the first time at a Van Halen concert in Louisiana. Valerie wasn’t really a big Van Halen fan either, instead dragged to the show by her brother Patrick, before she bumped into Eddie backstage tuning his guitar. She said it was love at first sight.

“I looked at him and he looked at me and that was it,” she said. “My heart melted.” In a story similar to that from ‘A Star Is Born’, they caught up after the concert and spent the night talking for hours.

Valerie was then a relatively well-known actress on popular US sitcom ‘One Day At A Time’, so Eddie soon moved in with her in the Hollywood Hills. They married not long after in 1981, but divorced in 2007.^[4]

6 Van Halen are in the Guinness Book of Records

It may come as a surprise, but Van Halen hold the mark for the highest-paid single appearance of a band in the Guinness Book of Records. In 1983, Van Halen appeared at the US Festival for 90 minutes, which was worth a stunning US$1.5 million. Some fans may argue this proves Van Halen are the biggest rock band in the world!

Van Halen headlined Heavy Metal Day of the three-day festival organized by Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak on Memorial Day Weekend in southern California. They got top billing, and money, ahead of the likes of David Bowie, Stevie Nicks, The Clash and U2.

A radio station figured out that that equated to Van Halen making $275 per second, but Eddie rebuked that comment when he spoke to Guitar World years later. “What he didn’t realize is that we put every penny of that into the production,” Eddie said. “We didn’t make a f**king dime when it was all over.”^[5]

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5 Eddie lost 1/3 of his tongue to tongue cancer

Eddie eventually lost his battle with illness this week but it all started in 2000 with tongue cancer. He subsequently underwent surgery on his tongue which removed one third of it. He was remarkably declared cancer-free in 2002 but more recently he suffered from throat cancer.

Known as a notoriously heavy drinker and smoker from his teenage years, Eddie actually pointed the blame for his tongue cancer at guitar picks. He claimed: “I used metal picks – they’re brass and copper – which I always held in my mouth, in the exact place where I got the tongue cancer.

“I was smoking and doing a lot of drugs and a lot of everything. But at the same time, my lungs are totally clear. This is just my own theory, but the doctors say it’s possible.” Either way, the loss of a third of his tongue never affected him musically.^[6]

4 “Jump” is the band’s only US number one single

When you look up Van Halen on Spotify, you’ll find some massive hits with more than 70 million streams, including “Jump”, “Panama”, “Runnin’ with the Devil”, “Hot for Teacher” and “Ain’t Talkin’ Bout Love”, so it’ll come as a surprise to know that only “Jump” went number one in the US.

Three of those aforementioned anthems came off the monster hit album “1984” with “Jump” getting the most attention thanks to Eddie’s ridiculous guitar solo. “Panama”, “I’ll Wait” (both from “1984”) and “Finish What Ya Started” got as high as 13 on the Billboard charts and number two on the Mainstream Rock Tracks list. Popular 1988 track “When It’s Love” got as high as five.

Van Halen’s breakthrough hit “Runnin’ With The Devil” may have been later voted by VH1 in the top 10 greatest hard rock songs of all-time but it only reached a peak of 84th on the US charts.^[7]

3 Eddie’s son was named after Mozart

It’s relatively well known that Eddie’s son Wolfgang joined the band in 2006, replacing Michael Anthony as their bass player as a teenager. Wolfgang, now 29, remains part of the band to this day.

But what’s little known is that the inspiration behind his birth name was to pay homage to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The Van Halens grew up in a musical household and their father Jan provided a classical music background, which included exposing the boys to Mozart’s work.

Interestingly, Eddie’s full name is Edward Lodewijk Van Halen, with his middle name in honour of Ludwig Van Beethoven, as Lodewijk is the Dutch version of the German name Ludwig. While Eddie started a rock band, he always had an attachment to classical music from his youth and he passed that on, albeit in name only, to his son.^[8]

2 “1984” never went no.1 on the charts

When you think about Van Halen albums, you usually think about “1984” given some of the singles which it included. However, despite its universal appeal and longevity, the album never actually managed to be number one on the Billboard charts in the USA.

The big reason was Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” couldn’t be bumped. It’s worth noting, “Thriller” was released in December 1982, while “1984” came out in January 1984, but MJ’s album sat number one on the Billboard charts for an astonishing 37 weeks, from February 26, 1983 to April 14, 1984. For five of those weeks, “1984” sat as number two but could never bump MJ off the top spot.

But Eddie can take some comfort and joy in the fact he provided the guitar in massive hit “Beat It” on Jackson’s album, meaning he technically did get that number one spot.^[9]

1 Eddie never technically learnt how to read music

In a 2012 interview with Esquire, Eddie admitted this fact. “I went to Pasadena City College, junior college, just for music,” Eddie said. “But I never learned how to read (music). For scoring and arranging, a Henry Mancini book was the bible. And I never read it, of course.”

Eddie instead claimed he watched his instructors’ fingers and had “good ears” for picking up the subtleties of music. He’d mimic them and improvise at recitals and competitions which he’d often win. It’s clear he was blessed with musical talent but his musician father’s influence was significant. He was also schooled by Lithuanian choirmaster Stasys Kalvaitis in his youth. Either way, Eddie improvised and it worked for him for his whole life.^[10]

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Renowned for being the most iconic post-impressionist artist, leaving behind an ineffaceable mark in the world of fine arts, Vincent Van Gogh is a name most people will be aware of. Despite being considered a failure in his lifetime, now, more than a century later, his masterpieces have revolutionized how modern-day art is presented and perceived. In addition, he has proven to be an inspiration for several current budding artists.

As little as we know about his personal life, it is well known he suffered from degenerative mental disorders, which not only made his paintings a deception of his mental health but also made his lifetime highly controversial, some details being quite shocking.

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10 Becoming an Artist Was Not His Initial Plan

Van Gogh’s father was a Protestant pastor, and his son hoped to follow in his footsteps. He studied theology in a church and was later deployed as a missionary in a small unknown village in the southwest of Belgium that went by the name “Borinage.” Owing to his highly romanticized idea of divinity and deeper truth of what Christianity truly was, he believed in a greater higher power, which was contrary to what his father’s church believed in. He was a strong believer in the idea that the generation of religion starts in the lower class. That’s why he began preaching in the village of poor miners.

Van Gogh, seeing the state of the poor villagers, gave away all his possessions to them and tried to imitate the morals of Christ to catch the attention of the people. An inspector from the Evangelization Council saw his radicalism, and his behavior was reported to the church authorities, who had him removed just two years into his religious duties. So he decided to follow his artistic passion, and his work was often seen depicting religious symbology.^[1]

9 The Letters

Van Gogh was a highly private person when it came to his personal life, and little to nothing would have been known about his life if it weren’t for his letters, the only authentic remaining personal record of his lifetime. They are a window into his universe. Vincent’s biggest supporter was his brother, Theo. Since Van Gogh turned toward art and writing after being sacked from his duties as a missionary, he would write to his brother in hopes of seeking clarity from his deteriorating mental health and lack of employment. The letters also showed how strained his family ties had grown due to his inability to pursue a proper career path.

With over 2,000 letters and around 240 sketches in them, they included everything from his deepest secrets to his intimate life. Around 950 of the letters were published in 1914 as a book.^[2]

8 Inspired by the East

Van Gogh sought inspiration from many artists and culturally affected pieces of artwork, taking a deep liking toward Asian art. At first, he paid no heed to the growing trend of Japanese art, but he decided to modernize his work after seeing its increasing impact. When he moved to Paris to share an apartment with his brother, they both worked on making a collection of Japanese prints, and Vincent’s interest in this form of art only chose to grow.

He started developing a keen eye toward Oriental art pieces, recognizing them as masterpieces equally great to western ones. The only real record stating how big this collection of prints was can be found in one of his letters, where he referred to them as “hundreds.”^[3]

7 Unrequited Love

The idea of having a mysterious artistic partner is compelling to many. Still, despite being a master in his artistic skill, Van Gogh was quite problematic and unlucky when it came to his romantic life, having experienced as much as only one proper romantic relationship through the course of his short lifespan. It is known he proposed to three women early in his life—for the sake of financial stability—and was turned down every time.

First, he had a highly volatile relationship with a neighbor. They planned to get married, but she drank poison when her family showed resentment toward her decision.

In 1882, he rescued a pregnant prostitute, who went by the name of Sien Hoornik, and her daughter. They moved into his studio apartment with him. They struck up a romantic relationship that Van Gogh’s family was highly against. Their romance only lasted 18 months, after which Vincent moved to Paris alone. In Paris, he fell in love with an Italian restaurant owner, Agostina Segatori, but this relationship proved challenging, and things ended a short time later.^[4]

6 Plagued by Many Illness

One of the main reasons for Van Gogh’s problematic life and instability was due to the numerous health disorders he was experiencing, most of which were mental health disorders, that ran in his family. More than a century since his demise, the mystery of his mental health is yet to be unraveled. But it was not until the age of 30 that his mental health took a dramatic turn downhill.

The downward spiral of his mental health is narrated in the letters he exchanged with his brother, Theo. Taking a closer look at the symptoms mentioned in these letters and in the authorized record at the Saint-Rémy asylum (where he was admitted), he experienced seizures, anxiety, insomnia, and hallucinations. He was conjectured to suffer from a bipolar mood disorder, schizophrenia, epilepsy, repetitive self-mutilation (tactlessly referred to as”Van Gogh” syndrome), and alcohol withdrawal.^[5]

5 Debated Details of the Fate of His Left Ear

One of the most infamous details of Van Gogh’s life has to be the incident of him cutting off his ear, but the details of this incident have been highly exaggerated. In 1888, he rented a house in Arles in hopes of finding an artist community and being less of a burden on his brother. One of his good friends and fellow artist, Paul Gauguin, moved in with him, where they collaborated on their work.

They lived and worked together for two months, but the tension seemed to build between them, and in a fit, Van Gogh pulled a knife on Gauguin. Rather than inflicting any injuries on Gauguin, he cut off only the lobe of his left ear, not the whole ear. Though debate still rages about exactly how much of the appendage was removed—anywhere between the lobe, the lobe plus a bit of the outside edge, and the entire ear. It is said he gifted the remains of his ear to a prostitute in a brothel nearby and was hospitalized for days to come.^[6]

4 Starry Night

Being one of the most eminent and striking pieces of art, you will be surprised to learn that the legendary Starry Night was painted in a small room in the Saint-Paul-de Mausoléo asylum. Van Gogh voluntarily entered the asylum after having several manic episodes and realizing depression had started taking a toll on him. He was given a separate small studio where he was allowed to paint.

The window of the studio overlooked a small village, and he was captivated by how big the stars seemed through his window. He then proceeded to create an oil-on-canvas painting of the scenery. Despite its compelling nature, Van Gogh had an extreme disliking of this painting of his, labeling it a failure.^[7]

3 Mostly Painted Landscapes Due to Lack of Models

If you take a look at a portfolio of Vincent Van Gogh’s work, it will become apparent that most of his pieces of art are landscapes, with very few exceptions for family and friends. This was not mainly by choice; he was unable to get models for his portraits because, firstly, he lived in a state of poverty for most of his life and, hence was unable to afford models. Secondly, he started showing signs of extreme aggression and hysteria due to his declining mental health. This caused the people of his city to consider him a public menace and avoid him. Thus, no one ever volunteered to be his model, and considering he was branded a “failing artist” in his era, no one was commissioning him to make portraits for them either.

He has a vast collection of self-portraits, with a few exceptions including Dr.Gachet, the postman Joseph Roulin, and a few prostitutes he encountered in Paris.^[8]

2 Near to No Artwork Sold during His Lifetime

Vincent van Gogh was the quintessential starving artist of his day. Because his work was considered “ugly” at that time and age, he was only able to sell only a handful of paintings and a few drawings in 10 years. Most of these were commissioned or purchased by friends or family. However, he apparently traded many more paintings with other artists or patrons for food or painting supplies, so much more of his work was available during his lifetime. Van Gogh, unfortunately, didn’t reap the monetary benefits that his paintings now bring. But the conventionally proclaimed theory is that he could only sell one painting for a long time until he painted The Red Vineyard in 1888.

Van Gogh was invited to a group show in Brussels, and he sent six paintings to be exhibited with the group. One of these paintings was The Red Vineyard. Anna Boch, an artist herself, a collector of pieces of art, and the sister of one of Van Gogh’s close friends, bought the painting for 400 francs because she wanted to motivate Van Gogh and please her brother.^[9]

1 Suicide

The reason why Van Gogh died is well known, but the details of it have been somewhat erroneous. Van Gogh had been visiting a field near Auvers that he had been painting for a while. One day, he traveled there and tried to commit suicide by shooting himself. While it is often thought he died there, he did not hit any vital organs, so the death was not instantaneous. Instead, he went back to the inn he was staying at.

Unfortunately, the bullet was lodged so deep inside him that the doctors couldn’t remove it. This caused an infection to develop. And two days after shooting himself in the abdomen, he died on July 29, 1890, with his brother Theo beside him.

However, this account has received some pushback, and some proclaim that he was accidentally—maybe intentionally—shot by a couple of young teenagers while in the field. In order to protect the boys, Van Gogh claimed that he had done it himself, which is what his brother and the doctor who saw him afterward believed. Unfortunately, the truth might never be known.^[10]