The Van Halen Drummer Was Knighted In The Town He Grew Up In

Alex Van Halen, the drummer and co-founder of one of the most successful rock bands in American history, flew from the United States to Nijmegen in the Netherlands on September 1, 2026, to receive the country's highest civilian honor: Knight in the Order of the Netherlands Lion, a distinction given only to those who make extraordinary contributions to society across the arts, science, sport, and literature. The ceremony took place at Radboud University's Berchmanianum academy building, where Nijmegen mayor Hubert Bruls presented the 73-year-old musician with the royal decoration and spoke of his role in writing a remarkable chapter in the history of rock music. After the ceremony, Van Halen was invited to sign Nijmegen's Book of the City, a register of notable figures including Bruce Springsteen and King Willem-Alexander. The connection between Van Halen and Nijmegen is a real one: Alex and his late brother Eddie were born in Amsterdam, moved to Nijmegen as young children, and lived there until the family relocated to Pasadena, California in 1962. In 2019, part of the city's Hunnerpark was temporarily renamed Van Halenplein in their honor, and a mural of Eddie Van Halen was unveiled in the city following his death in 2020.

Van Halen's response to the honor was characteristically humble. He said his cousin had organized most of it, and then added something that landed more meaningfully than the self-deprecation suggested: he said he thinks institutions like this are important in people's lives because they add a dignity and a gravity to what we do, and that whether the honor is deserved or not is another question, but that the important thing is having something to live up to. Van Halen was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007 and earned a Grammy Award for hard rock performance, and the band he co-founded with his brother scored five number-one albums on the Billboard 200 and more than 20 hits on the Hot 100, including Jump, which spent five weeks at number one in 1984. He wrote a memoir called Brothers in 2024 about his and Eddie's lives and their bond, which was celebrated widely as a candid and moving account of one of rock's most important partnerships. He has said in interviews since Eddie's death that his brother was the most important relationship of his life. The city of Nijmegen said in its announcement that Alex still feels a connection to Nijmegen, and that conversely Nijmegen honors the bond. The knighthood is the city making that official.

Source:https://www.billboard.com/music/awards/alex-van-halen-knighted-the-netherlands-1236332269/