Drummer Alex van Halen has been given the honour of Knight in the Order Of The Netherlands Lion (Ridder in de Orde van de Nederlandse Leeuw). The award was presented September 1 at an event in the van Halen childhood home of Nijmegen, Netherlands.
Nijmegen mayor Hubert Bruls presented van Halen with the award during a ceremony at the Berchmanianum (chapel) at Radboud University.
It is the highest civilian award presented in the Netherlands.
Van Halen spoke on the presentation via video saying, “my cousin organized most of this. But I’m very grateful. (I) think institutions like this are important in people’s lives because it adds a dignity and a gravity to what we do. Whether it’s actually deserved or not, that’s another question. But we can live up to it. That’s the whole thing, is you gotta have something to live up to.”
He added, “we grew up together in a small house with a small room, and at first, no one in Los Angeles took any notice of us. But through music, we broke out and conquered the world.”
In 2024, Alex was awarded the Buddy Rich Award for his drumming.