This Van Halen trivia quiz has 50 free questions with answers and runs from the brothers' birth in Amsterdam and the Pasadena party circuit through the Warner Bros. signing on a napkin, the Diamond-certified debut, Eruption and finger-tapping, the 1984 album and Jump, David Lee Roth's exit, the four straight No. 1 albums with Sammy Hagar, the Gary Cherone detour, Wolfgang replacing Michael Anthony, A Different Kind of Truth and Eddie's death in 2020. Along the way it stops at the Frankenstrat, the Beat It solo, the brown M&M rider and the Hall of Fame. Early questions suit anyone who can hum the Jump riff; later ones reward fans who know which band name they had to abandon, who introduced Eddie to Sammy Hagar, and what 5150 refers to. Every answer was checked against encyclopaedia entries before publishing. No lyrics are quoted.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01In which California city was Van Halen formed in 1972?
Pasadena
They built a following playing backyard parties and high-school events, drawing up to 2,000 people to city parks.
Q 02In which country were Eddie and Alex Van Halen born?
The Netherlands
Their father Jan was a Dutch musician and their mother Eugenia was Indonesian-born; the family moved to Pasadena in 1962.
Q 03Which instrument did each brother originally play before they swapped?
Eddie drums, Alex guitar
Frustrated, Eddie told Alex 'OK, you play drums and I'll play your guitar.'
Q 04Which band name did the brothers drop in 1972 because a British group already used it?
Genesis
They became Mammoth, then in 1973 simply Van Halen.
Q 05How did the band first get to know David Lee Roth?
They rented his sound system for $10 a night
Roth was an Indiana-born Pasadena transplant with a PA system the young band needed.
Q 06Which Kiss member was persuaded to see Van Halen play at Gazzarri's in 1976?
Gene Simmons
Rodney Bingenheimer made the introduction; Simmons produced an early demo.
Q 07On what did Warner Bros. reps write their letter of intent after seeing the band at the Starwood in 1977?
A napkin
Mo Ostin and Ted Templeman saw them play to an almost empty room on a rainy night.
Q 08Which producer made all of Van Halen's albums up to 1984?
Ted Templeman
He also produced Montrose and Sammy Hagar's VOA, which is partly how Hagar came onto the radar.
Q 09What was Van Halen's first single, from the 1978 debut album?
You Really Got Me
It was a cover of the Kinks' 1964 hit, following the guitar solo Eruption on the record.
Q 10Which instrumental on the debut album showcased Eddie's finger-tapping technique?
Eruption
On studio documents it was titled simply 'Guitar Solo'.
Q 11What RIAA certification did the debut album Van Halen eventually earn?
Diamond
That means more than 10 million US copies; the band is one of only five rock acts with two studio albums past that mark.
Q 12What was Van Halen's only No. 1 single on the Billboard Hot 100?
Jump
Roth was uneasy about Eddie playing keyboards instead of guitar on it.
Q 13On which synthesizer was the famous keyboard riff of Jump played?
An Oberheim OB-Xa
Eddie wrote the line around 1981 and the rest of the band initially rejected it.
Q 21Which film's soundtrack sessions triggered Hagar's 1996 departure?
Twister
Eddie rewrote 'Humans Being'; Hagar said he was fired, Eddie said he quit.
Q 22Gary Cherone, singer on Van Halen III, came from which band?
Extreme
The 1998 album's 'How Many Say I' even had Eddie on lead vocals; Warner Bros. pushed for Cherone's exit.
Q 23Which bassist did Eddie reportedly approach in the early 1980s about replacing Michael Anthony?
Billy Sheehan
Sheehan's band Talas had just toured with Van Halen; Anthony stayed until Wolfgang took over in 2006.
Q 14Which album kept 1984 from reaching No. 1 on the Billboard chart?
Thriller
Ironically Eddie played a guitar solo on that album.
Q 15On which Michael Jackson song did Eddie Van Halen play a guest guitar solo?
Beat It
He reportedly did it for free while the rest of the band was out of town.
Q 16What is the studio Eddie built, whose name also became an album title?
5150
The name is police code for a mentally disturbed person; the 1986 album became the band's first No. 1.
Q 17Sammy Hagar, who replaced David Lee Roth in 1985, had previously fronted which band?
Montrose
Ted Templeman had produced that band's debut, and Hagar's solo hit 'I Can't Drive 55' came out the year before he joined.
Q 18How were Eddie Van Halen and Sammy Hagar introduced?
By a mutual car mechanic
Warner boss Mo Ostin heard the new lineup and said, 'I smell money.'
Q 19How many US No. 1 albums did Van Halen record with Sammy Hagar?
Four
5150, OU812, For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge and Balance.
Q 20Which Van Halen album won the 1992 Grammy for Best Hard Rock Performance with Vocal?
For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge
Its initials spell a word the band could not put on a record sleeve.
Q 24What was Van Halen's final studio album, released in 2012?
A Different Kind of Truth
It was the first Roth album in 28 years and the only one featuring Wolfgang.
Q 25In which year was Van Halen inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?
2007
Neither Eddie nor Alex attended the ceremony.
Q 26What did Van Halen's famous tour rider demand about M&Ms?
No brown ones
It was a canary in the coal mine: brown M&Ms meant the venue probably had not read the safety specs either.
Q 27What is the name of the striped guitar Eddie built himself from parts?
The Frankenstrat
He never named it himself; the case said 'Frankenstein', which Wolfgang considers official.
Q 28What did Eddie use to repaint his homemade striped guitar red in 1979?
Schwinn bicycle paint
It had originally been white with black stripes, as seen on the debut album cover.
Q 29Which guitar company gave Eddie his first endorsement deal, the Baretta, in 1982?
Kramer
He later designed the Music Man EVH with Ernie Ball and then the Peavey Wolfgang.
Q 30What was the name of Roth's solo EP that spawned covers of California Girls and Just a Gigolo?
Crazy from the Heat
He was also offered a $20 million film deal for a script of the same name.