Alex Van Halen knighted in the Netherlands

Drummer Alex Van Halen has been appointed a Knight in the Order of the Netherlands Lion, one of the nation’s highest civilian honors. The distinction was presented on September 1 by Mayor Hubert Bruls during a ceremony at the Berchmanianum at Radboud University in Nijmegen.

The honor recognizes Van Halen’s contributions to music and his connection to the Netherlands, where he and his brother Eddie spent their formative years before moving to the United States in 1962. During the ceremony, Alex Van Halen expressed gratitude for the recognition, noting that such institutions add “a dignity and a gravity to what we do.”

In addition to the knighthood, recent developments involving the former Van Halen members include a July appearance by Alex Van Halen and former frontman David Lee Roth at TEDxFargo, marking their first public appearance together since the band’s final show in 2015.