Alex Van Halen shares rare recording of a young Eddie Van Halen playing guitar to mark the late guitar great’s birthday

To mark what would have been Eddie Van Halen's 71st birthday on January 26, his brother and Van Halen drummer, Alex Van Halen, shared a snippet of their childhood – and Eddie's precocious talent – on social media. The muted clip shows a young Eddie joyously strumming an acoustic guitar, shortly before the camera pans to a grinning Alex. The heartfelt video is accompanied by a short quote from Wolfie – “‘Al, you and dad changed the world of music’ - Wolfgang Van Halen. “I’m getting ready to do this record with Lukather and a couple other people,” said Van Halen. “It should be exciting.”A post shared by Reverend Al (@alexvanhalenofficial) A photo posted by onIn an interview with De Telegraf from March 2025, Van Halen commented, “Ed and Steve Lukather were very good friends and they often worked together.