Born in Amsterdam on Jan. 26, 1955 to a Dutch saxophonist father and European Indonesian mother, the Van Halen family immigrated to Pasadena, California in 1962 to escape racial prejudice against his mother, Eddie, and his older brother Alex, the New York Times reported.
Eddie would go on to make an impact on the rock world with his brother and namesake band, becoming renowned for his innovation with the guitar and his two-handed tapping technique, according to BBC.
Since the news of his passing, Indonesian and other Asian fans poured their pride in “one of the greatest rock guitarists of all time” with words of praise and admiration, Coconuts Jakarta reported.
I was today years
old when I found out that Eddie Van Halen was of Asian descent. His
mother Eugenia was Indonesian Dutch. I can only imagine how impactful
knowing this would’ve been growing up as a half-Asian
metalhead.
Lotta folks inc me surprised to hear of Eddie Van Halen’s Indonesian-Dutch mom who was apparently the Tiger Mom influence as the family moved to US from Netherlands to escape Dutch society’s racism— and then proceeded to live the American immigrant dream. https://t.co/UNiXZNP5WOpic.twitter.com/EznKQ4oYhD
Growing up in the 70s-80s I had few Asian role models. So when this half-Indonesian kid came ripping on to the music scene as a rock god, it meant everything to me and my friends. RIP Eddie Van Halen. The Greatest. pic.twitter.com/K4aEz7lCMV
“To me, he was like Tesla or Louis Pasteur or Ray Kurzweil. He might not have been working with circuits or engines or whatnot. He was working with musical notes and guitar strings and bridges and amplifiers.” – Kirk Hammett https://t.co/eJPoL8idei
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