Hire Van Halen for Your Event

We Help You Hire, Book and Produce a Van Halen Performance

Celebrity Direct Inc. will help you select, book and hire Van Halen to perform at your corporate event, non-profit event or private performance.

We are always uniquely positioned as your advocate throughout the hiring process and we won’t let you overpay.

Contact us for availability, price and other production details at:

212-521-4115        Tell Us About Your Event

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Van Halen Songs

• “Jump”
• “Eruption”
• “Hot For Teacher
• “Panama”
• “Unchained”
• “When It’s Love”
• “I’ll Wait”
• “Ice Cream Man”

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Van Halen Bio

Starting with their Top Twenty debut album in 1978, Van Halen almost single-handedly redefined heavy metal as sunny, pop-friendly California party music that managed to retain its physical power and virtuoso credentials — a concept that would reverberate throughout the hair-metal Eighties. With Eddie Van Halen’s highly original guitar pyrotechnics a constant through the years, Van Halen would shuffle their lineup again and again. Initially fronted by the flamboyant and ever-quotable David Lee Roth, the band garnered a loyal mass following that held fast long after Roth’s 1985 departure, and through numerous well-publicized intra-band squabbles.

The Van Halen brothers’ father, Jan, was a freelance saxophone and clarinet player who performed styles ranging from big band to classical in the Netherlands. The family moved to Pasadena, California in 1967, “with 15 dollars and a piano,” as Eddie once said. Jan washed dishes, then played in wedding bands to support the family. Beginning around age six both Eddie and Alex received piano lessons and extensive classical music training, but with move to America they discovered rock & roll.

Eddie learned to play drums, and Alex learned to play guitar; eventually they traded instruments and started a band called Mammoth. Roth, the even-then outgoing and outrageous scion of a wealthy family and lead singer of another rival band, Redball Jet, joined them. The bassist and lead singer of another group, Snake, Michael Anthony came aboard shortly thereafter. After learning that there was already another group claiming the name Mammoth, the group considered calling themselves Rat Salade before deciding on Van Halen.

Van Halen played the Pasadena/Santa Barbara bar circuit for more than three years. Its sets initially consisted primarily of cover material ranging into disco to pop, but the band eventually introduced original songs and was soon one of the most popular groups in California, regulars at the Sunset Strip hard-rock club Gazzari’s, and an opening act for Santana, Nils Lofgren, UFO, and other established acts.

In 1977 Kiss’ Gene Simmons spotted Van Halen in L.A.’s Starwood club and financed its demo tape. After seeing the group and upon hearing Simmons’ recommendation, Warner Bros. Records’ Mo Ostin and staff producer Ted Templeman signed Van Halen. Its self-titled debut album hit Number 19 and eventually sold more than 6 million copies. The debut single, a pile-driving cover of the Kinks’ 1964 hit “You Really Got Me,” hit Number 36. The followup, “Runnin’ With the Devil,” hit Number 84.

Roth’s swaggering good looks and extroverted persona, not to mention pithy, frequently tongue-in-cheek statements on the rock & roll lifestyle he claimed to espouse, assured press coverage. But while the mainstream media focused on Roth, musicians and fans were riveted by Eddie Van Halen’s guitar mastery and an array of unorthodox techniques that he developed as he taught himself to play: rapid-fire hammer-ons and pull-offs, two-hand tapping, and any combination thereof to produce his unique sound. In addition, the guitarist was also known to build and/or meticulously customize his instruments, using everything from sandpaper to chainsaws to alter the timbre of his instrument and achieve a distinct sound. Long before the group ever recorded, Eddie became a legend among local guitarists eager to learn the secret of his sound. Like countless guitarists before him, from Robert Johnson to Eric Clapton, Eddie began performing with his back to the audience to guard his technique.

Van Halen II (Number 6, 1979), released as new wave began coming to the fore, continued in the group’s straight-rock style and featured their first Top 20 single, “Dance the Night Away,” as well as the popular “Beautiful Girls.” Women and Children First (Number 6, 1980) spun off the single “And the Cradle Will Rock” (Number 55, 1980) a metal showcase that typified the band’s dense, loud, crunching style.

In 1979 Van Halen launched its second world tour, its first as headliner. Early on, the band embraced its larger-than-life image; for example, tour incidents ranged from Roth’s breaking his nose on a lighting rig when jumping onstage to the band trashing its dressing room after a promoter failed to comply with the band’s contractual stipulation that the backstage candy dish contain no brown M&Ms.

Van Halen’s biggest album with Roth was 1984 (Number Two, 1984), which contained the Number One hit “Jump” (on which Eddie played synthesizer) as well as “I’ll Wait” (Number 13, 1984), “Panama” (Number 13, 1984), and “Hot for Teacher” (Number 56, 1984), all songs supported by popular videos that showcased both Roth’s alternately boastful and clownish persona and Eddie (and the rest of the group’s) flashy musicianship. Shortly before 1984‘s release, Eddie Van Halen had composed and played the guitar solo on Michael Jackson’s “Beat It,” a few bars of heavy metal that many observers believed helped the video land a spot on MTV’s then predominantly white playlist.

The loquacious Roth and the soft-spoken Eddie had long been considered one of rock’s oddest couples. When in 1985 Roth released his four-song EP, Crazy From the Heat, and it spun off two hit singles — covers of the Beach Boys’ “California Girls” (Number Three, 1985) and of the 1956 Louis Prima medley “Just a Gigolo”/”I Ain’t Got Nobody” (Number 12, 1985) — a breakup was widely rumored. The videos for the two songs were hugely popular, and for a time Roth had a film in development (the deal fell through). When Roth delayed recording for Van Halen’s seventh album, tensions rose, and Roth left the band. That June, established hard-rock singer and former Montrose frontman Sammy Hagar was named Roth’s replacement.

The Hagar era began auspiciously, with the group’s next three multiplatinum albums — 5150, OU812, and For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge (or “F.U.C.K.,” as it’s slyly abbreviated) — all hitting Number One. Among the hit singles from these records were “Why Can’t This Be Love” (Number Three, 1986), “Dreams” (Number 22, 1986), and “Feels So Good” (Number 35, 1989). Van Halen headlined the Monsters of Rock Tour in 1988 and in 1991 bought the Cabo Wabo Cantina, a Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, restaurant and bar. (Hagar later bought out the other members.) The innovative, text-oriented 1992 video for “Right Now” didn’t boost the single beyond Number 55, but it did win MTV’s Best Video of the Year award and provided the theme for a round of Pepsi commercials shortly thereafter. The year 1993 saw the release of the band’s first live album, Van Halen Live: Right Here, Right Now (Number Five). Balance debuted at Number One in 1995 and sold double-platinum nearly immediately upon its release. It contained one Top Thirty hit, “Can’t Stop Lovin’ You.”

Throughout his tenure with Van Halen, Hagar continued to release solo albums. While this wasn’t considered a problem by the other members, tempers flared in spring 1996, when the band finished the Balance tour. Hagar’s wife was pregnant and he wanted to take time off; the rest of the group wanted to work on a few new tracks for a greatest-hits compilation, an idea that Hagar was against. Some speculated that Hagar objected because a best-of package would undoubtedly feature songs from the Roth era, songs Hagar had declined to sing in concert.

In June of that year, Van Halen claimed that Hagar left the band, while Hagar insisted that he was fired — a difference in opinion that has lasted to this day. The remaining members of Van Halen invited Roth back into the studio with them to record two new tracks for the hits album. That fall, the apparently reunited foursome presented a trophy at the MTV Video Music Awards, and speculation was that Roth was back in the band full-time. Apparently Roth thought so, too, because he was miffed when Eddie, the band’s spokesperson, clarified in a press statement that Van Halen’s intentions were to include Roth in a couple of new recordings and nothing more. Again, the difference of opinion regarding the group’s original intention prevails.

With Hagar gone and Roth out of the picture again, Van Halen hired ex-Extreme singer Gary Cherone as its new lead vocalist in November 1996. The choice was initially surprising, since Extreme’s biggest hits, “More Than Words” and “Hole Hearted,” were ballads. But the bulk of that band’s catalogue was hard rock, and the collaboration seemed to reinvigorate Eddie Van Halen. He and Cherone immediately began writing songs together, with Cherone’s lyrics inspiring Eddie’s music — the first time the group’s music wasn’t written first.

This new incarnation recorded Van Halen III (Number Four, 1998), an album that signaled another Van Halen first: Eddie singing lead on one song. The band toured and the single “Without You” rose to Number One on the Mainstream Rock chart, but CD sales fell quickly. The release sold just 500,000 copies, making it the first Van Halen album not to go at least double platinum. In November 1999 Cherone left the band. He recorded a solo album and returned to a Massachusetts stage production of Jesus Christ Superstar, which he starred in after Extreme broke up.

But sure enough, in September 2007, Diamond Dave and his ex-bandmates (minus Anthony, with replacement Wolfgang Van Halen, Eddie’s son, on bass) kicked off their long-awaited reunion tour in Charlotte, North Carolina. The tour received generally positive reviews, and Rolling Stone‘s 2007 year-end issue listed the reunion as “Miracle of the Year.” With Eddie fighting rehab and health issues, the 74-date show was seen by nearly a million people and grossed over $93 million. The group also hinted that a new Roth-fronted Van Halen album might follow. Meanwhile, in 2009, Anthony and Hagar — who had toured in recent years as “The Other Half” — joined up with master guitarist Joe Satriani and Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith in the band Chickenfoot, whose self-titled debut album charted at Number Four.

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Contact Van Halen Manager or Agent | You May Ask?

How can I hire Van Halen for a corporate event, non-profit or charity event or private performance? How much does Van Halen cost for a performance, a song, an appearance at an event, party or convention ending gala? What kind of budget would I need for a Van Halen performance at our event? How can I find out if Van Halen is available for our event date? How do I contact Van Halen’s manager? How do I contact Van Halen’s agent?

We can answer all your questions.

Contact our National Booking Office at 212 521-4115 or send us your questions via email to hire Van Halen.

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Why Celebrity Direct Inc.

Direct Source for Celebrity Performers We are the industry leader in celebrity talent buying and production for corporate events. We work on your behalf to hire the best possible celebrity for your budget and we are uniquely positioned as your advocate in the booking process so you never overpay.

Corporate & Non-Profit Events and Private Performances We are dedicated to private performances, not publicly ticketed events, and we are the experts in this highly specialized entertainment market.

Complete Turn-Key Production Nationwide Event planners work with us in several ways, either choosing from a menu of our services or asking us to produce a show delivered completely turn-key at your event nationwide.