Van Halen drummer Alex Van Halen has been appointed Knight in the Order of the Netherlands Lion during a ceremony in Nijmegen, the Dutch city where he spent his early childhood with brother Eddie Van Halen.
by Paul Cashmere
Alex Van Halen has been appointed Knight in the Order of the Netherlands Lion, one of the Netherlands’ highest civilian honours, in recognition of his contribution to music and his enduring connection to the country where he spent his childhood. The Van Halen drummer received the distinction on September 1 in Nijmegen, where Mayor Hubert Bruls presented the honour during a ceremony at the Berchmanianum at Radboud University.
The appointment formally recognises a career that helped define the sound of American hard rock while also acknowledging Alex Van Halen’s Dutch origins. The Order of the Netherlands Lion, or Ridder in de Orde van de Nederlandse Leeuw, is awarded for exceptional contributions across areas including the arts, sciences and public life.
For Alex Van Halen, the honour carries a particular geographical significance. He and Eddie Van Halen spent their formative years in Nijmegen before their family relocated to the United States in 1962. The city has continued to maintain a connection with the brothers and the band they formed after settling in California.
Alex Van Halen travelled from the United States to Nijmegen for the ceremony. Speaking after receiving the distinction, he acknowledged his family’s role in arranging the occasion while reflecting on the responsibility that comes with such recognition.
“My cousin organized most of this. But I’m very grateful,” Alex said. “I think institutions like this are important in people’s lives because it adds a dignity and a gravity to what we do.”
He added that the significance of the award also comes with an obligation to live up to it. “Whether it’s actually deserved or not, that’s another question. But we can live up to it. That’s the whole thing, is you gotta have something to live up to.”
The City of Nijmegen described the connection in similarly personal terms, stating that “Alex still feels a connection with Nijmegen, and Nijmegen in turn honors the band.” It also cited the scale of Van Halen’s musical legacy and Alex Van Halen’s distinctive contribution as a drummer.
Alex and Eddie Van Halen were born in Amsterdam and moved with their family to Nijmegen while they were young. Their father, Jan Van Halen, was a professional musician, while their mother, Eugenia, was born in Indonesia. The family remained in the Netherlands until moving to California in 1962.
The brothers’ shared musical journey continued in Southern California, where they formed the group that became Van Halen. The band spent years developing its reputation on the local circuit before the release of its self-titled debut album in 1978.
That record transformed the group into an international rock act. Eddie Van Halen’s guitar playing became one of the defining sounds of the era, while Alex Van Halen established an equally recognisable rhythmic identity behind the drum kit. Across the band’s catalogue, his playing provided the foundation for the combination of hard rock power, rhythmic precision and dynamic movement that became central to Van Halen’s recordings and performances.
The band also maintained a connection with the Netherlands after establishing itself internationally. “Runnin’ With The Devil” became Van Halen’s first Dutch Top 40 entry in 1980, while “Jump” became a worldwide hit four years later.
Nijmegen has continued to recognise the brothers’ contribution to music. In 2019, part of the city’s Hunnerpark was temporarily renamed Van Halenplein, while a mural commemorating Eddie Van Halen was unveiled in Nijmegen.
Alex Van Halen’s return to the city therefore places a major international rock career within the context of the family’s Dutch history. His 2024 autobiography, Brothers, also provided a detailed account of the close relationship between Alex and Eddie, describing a childhood in which the brothers shared their experiences of immigration, music and adapting to life in a new country.
Alex Van Halen’s appointment adds an official Dutch honour to the drummer’s long list of career achievements. More than six decades after leaving the Netherlands, he returned to Nijmegen to receive recognition from the city connected to the earliest chapter of the Van Halen story.
Following the ceremony, Alex signed the Book of the City, Nijmegen’s register for distinguished visitors. His signature places him among notable figures who have been formally welcomed by the city, marking a return to the place that remains part of the Van Halen family’s history.
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