Van Halen Memorial to be Unveiled in Pasadena Monday

The city on Monday will unveil a plaque dedicated to legendary guitarist and former Pasadena resident Eddie Van Halen.

Van Halen died from complications caused by throat cancer on Oct. 6, 2020. He was 65.

The plaque will be installed near the Pasadena Convention Center, which is next to the Civic Auditorium, where the band played a dozen times between 1975 and 1978.

The unveiling event is not open to the public.

“Following the passing of Eddie Van Halen on October 6, 2020, the city received requests and suggestions from the community to do or name something in Mr. Van Halen’s honor to recognize both his local connection to Pasadena, as well as the impact that his artistry had on music,” city officials said in an embargoed press release last week. “Given the band’s connection to Pasadena, the Executive Committee of the Pasadena Center Operating Company endorsed the city’s effort to put a plaque outside the Civic Auditorium, a location where the band played several of its earliest performances.”

The Van Halen family moved to Pasadena from Holland in 1962. They reportedly lived on Las Lunas Street. Eddie and his brother Alex later teamed with David Lee Roth to start the legendary group Van Halen.

Roth remembered Eddie Van Halen last week when he announced his pending retirement.

“I am encouraged and compelled to really come to grips with how short time is, and my time is probably even shorter,” said Roth as he remembered Eddie during his retirement announcement.

Roth attended John Muir High School. The Van Halen brothers attended Pasadena High School.

The effort to remember the iconic musician in his boyhood hometown began almost immediately after news of his death was released.

The local group Pasadena 4 Van Halen has raised money to fund a plaque honoring the late singer.

The Pasadena Center Operating Co. recently reviewed and endorsed the language and location of a memorial plaque to be placed in honor of Van Halen.

“I have thought so much about this man, in the last year especially,” said Randa Schmalfeld, one of the organizers. “We are all so very fortunate to have witnessed his brilliance during our lives. Edward Van Halen was a true virtuoso, a remarkable musician, and an amazing innovator. For me, something else about Edward really stands out, and that is the obvious joy that he found in sharing his music with the world. We’ve all seen him play, that beautiful smile would light up any stage, his joyful spirit was infectious!”

The grassroots effort is not the only memorial connected to Pasadena. The Pasadena-based AR Firm, teamed up with L.A. artist Robert Vargas to augment Robert’ mural of Eddie Van Halen at the Guitar Center Hollywood.

After scanning a QR code at the mural site and standing directly in front of the artwork, viewers can see the mural come to life as the legendary rocker plays his guitar.

In interviews, Alex and Eddie attended local schools where they were pushed around because they were mixed race and spoke little English.

In a 2017 interview with Smithsonian Magazine, Eddie Van Halen remembered his first friends in America were Black and protected him from local bullies.

Despite those incidents, Van Halen said he was grateful for his experience as an immigrant.

“Coming here with approximately $50 and a piano, not being able to speak the language, going through everything to get to where we are, if that’s not the American dream, I don’t know what is,” he said in the interview.

The placement of monuments, including memorial plaques, is under the administrative jurisdiction of the city manager.

Monuments must meet criteria for appropriateness, compatibility with the surrounding environment, and impacts on the location’s existing use.