Legendary Drummer Alex Van Halen Knighted in the Netherlands
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Alex Van Halen, drummer and co-founder of Van Halen, has spoken publicly for the first time since being knighted in the Order of the Netherlands Lion, the country's highest civilian honour. At the ceremony in Nijmegen — the city where he and his late brother Eddie grew up before the family emigrated to Los Angeles in 1962 — Van Halen said his cousin had organised most of the event and reflected that such honours "add a dignity and a gravity" to people's achievements, adding that "you gotta have something to live up to."
The city of Nijmegen shared photographs celebrating his influential career and bold musical style, and Van Halen was pictured signing the city's Book of the City, joining previous signatories including Bruce Springsteen and King Willem-Alexander. The honour follows Van Halen's October 2024 memoir, Brothers, which recounts his relationship with Eddie from their shared childhood through to the end of the original Van Halen lineup in 1984, describing bonds forged through emigration, alcoholism, fame and decades in the studio together.
- Alex Van Halen knighted in Netherlands' Order of the Netherlands Lion
- Ceremony held in Nijmegen, his and Eddie's childhood city
- He signed the city's Book of the City, joining Bruce Springsteen, king
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Alex Van Halen is best known as the drummer and co-founder of Van Halen, the American rock band he formed with his brother Eddie Van Halen, who died in 2020. The brothers were born in Nijmegen, in the Netherlands, before their family emigrated to Los Angeles in 1962, where the band later found huge success and became one of the most influential rock acts of its era.
The Order of the Netherlands Lion is the country's highest civilian honour, awarded for outstanding achievement or service. Alex Van Halen has now received this honour and returned to Nijmegen for the ceremony, a city that has previously honoured notable signatories such as Bruce Springsteen and King Willem-Alexander in its official Book of the City.
The recognition also follows the October 2024 publication of Van Halen's memoir, Brothers, in which he wrote about his relationship with Eddie, from their childhood in the Netherlands through the band's rise and the pressures of fame, before the original line-up ended in 1984.
Full account
Alex Van Halen, drummer and co-founder of the pioneering rock band Van Halen, has been made a Knight in the Order of the Netherlands Lion, one of the country's most prestigious civilian honours. The 73-year-old musician was recognised in Nijmegen, the Dutch city where he and his younger brother Eddie spent much of their childhood before the family emigrated to the United States in 1962, settling in the Los Angeles area.
The investiture took place at the Berchmanianum, an academy building belonging to Radboud University, where Nijmegen's mayor, Hubert Bruls, presented the honour and paid tribute to Van Halen's part in shaping what he described as a landmark era of rock music. The award is reserved for individuals judged to have made an exceptional contribution to society, and the city noted in a statement that Van Halen has retained a lasting attachment to Nijmegen even as the town continues to take pride in the band's achievements.
Reflecting on the occasion, Van Halen struck a modest tone, crediting a cousin with arranging much of the ceremony and saying he was grateful for the recognition. He remarked that honours of this kind lend a sense of dignity and seriousness to people's endeavours, adding that whether or not they are truly merited, they give a person something to aspire to. As part of the visit, he added his signature to Nijmegen's Book of the City, a ledger reserved for distinguished guests that also bears the names of Bruce Springsteen and King Willem-Alexander.
The knighthood follows the 2024 publication of Van Halen's memoir, Brothers, which traces his and Eddie's journey from their European upbringing to the rise and eventual split of the original Van Halen line-up in 1984, and reflects at length on the closeness the two shared throughout their lives and careers. Eddie Van Halen, celebrated as one of rock's most influential guitarists, died in October 2020 following a long illness. Over their career together, the band amassed five number-one albums in the United States, more than twenty Billboard Hot 100 entries including the chart-topping 1984 hit 'Jump', a Grammy Award, several MTV Video Music Awards, and induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007.
Where outlets differ
One account places the ceremony precisely on Tuesday 1 September at the Berchmanianum, Radboud University, and names Nijmegen's mayor, Hubert Bruls, as the presenter, while the other gives no date, venue or official's name.
Accounts differ slightly on where the family settled after leaving the Netherlands in 1962 — one says Los Angeles, the other specifies Pasadena, California.
One report focuses heavily on Van Halen's career statistics (chart positions, awards, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction) and gives publication details of the memoir (publisher, page count), while the other places more emphasis on a lengthy quoted passage from the memoir about the bond between Alex and Eddie.
Only one source explicitly states this is the country's highest civilian honour and quotes the city's description of the award as being for 'extraordinary contributions' to society.
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