Edward Lodewijk "Eddie" Van Halen (born January 26, 1955), is a Dutch guitarist, keyboardist, songwriter and producer most famous for being the lead guitarist and co-founder of the rock band Van Halen.

Van Halen, originally called "Mammoth", was formed in 1972 in Pasadena, California, United States. The band consisted of Eddie Van Halen on guitar and vocals, his brother, Alex on drums, and bassist Mark Stone. They had no P.A. system of their own, so they rented one from David Lee Roth (who had auditioned for the band, but failed) a service for which he charged $10 a night. Eddie quickly became frustrated singing lead vocals, and decided they could save money by letting Roth into the band.Soon, Michael Anthony replaced Mark Stone on bass. They opted to change the name of the band, reportedly due to another band using the same name Roth is normally attributed with suggesting the name 'Van Halen'.