Born January 26, 1955, in Nijmegen, the Netherlands, Edward Lodewijk van Halen is a son of father Jan van Halen, a clarinetist, saxophonist, and pianist, and mother Eugenia. Eugenia van Halen was originally from Indonesia, a former Dutch colony; she was half Dutch and half Indonesian. Edward's middle name "Lodewijk" was derived from composer Ludwig van Beethoven (Lodewijk is the Dutch version of Ludwig). Edward continued this naming tradition by naming his son Wolfgang Van Halen after composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. In February 1962, the Van Halen family moved to the United States, settling in Pasadena, California.
Eddie and his older brother Alex learned to play the piano as children. The brothers were shuttled from Pasadena to San Pedro to study with an elderly man who taught them classical piano. Eddie and Alex hated the commute, but continued as their mother would discipline them if they refused to go. Eddie revealed in an interview that he never could read the music; he learned from watching and listening. During recitals of Bach or Mozart, he would simply wing it. Afterward, the judges would comment that he had an interesting interpretation of the classical piece; Eddie thought, "What? I thought I was playing it correctly!" However, playing the piano did not prove to be challenging or interesting to him — he once said in an interview. Consequently, while Alex began playing the guitar, Eddie bought a drum kit and began practicing for hours day after day.
After Eddie heard Alex's performance of the The Surfaris' drum solo in the song "Wipe Out", he grew annoyed that his brother had overtaken his ability and decided to switch and begin learning how to play the electric guitar. He stated as a teen he would often practice while walking around at home with his guitar strapped on or sitting in his room for hours with the door locked. Van Halen notes the importance of supergroup Cream, holding their improvisation in high regard, considering 'I'm so Glad' on Goodbye Cream to be mind-blowing. He once claimed that he had learned almost all of Eric Clapton's solos in the band Cream "note for note". Eddie has stated: "I've always said Eric Clapton was my main influence, but Jimmy Page was actually more the way I am, in a reckless-abandon kind of way."
Eddie and Alex formed their first band with three other boys, calling themselves The Broken Combs, performing at lunchtime at Hamilton Elementary School in Pasadena. Eddie would later say that this was when he first felt the desire to become a professional musician. Eddie was in the 4th grade.
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