A stage dedicated to late electric guitar legend Eddie Van Halen and the Van Halen band was officially opened in the Van Halen family's hometown of Pasadena during a ribbon cutting ceremony at the weekend (17 September).
The stage itself – appropriately named The Van Halen Stage – was first announced in April this year, when it was reported the public stage would be situated at a new park to pay tribute to the guitarist and the Van Halen band.
Though the stage was first envisaged as a tribute solely to Eddie Van Halen, it was later expanded to encompass the whole Van Halen band – which first formed in Pasadena in 1972 – after consultation with the Van Halen family.
Campaigned for by Pasadena 4 Van Halen, the Van Halen Stage is fixed with a plaque that reads, “Regarded as one of the most successful rock bands of all time. Van Halen got their start in Pasadena in the 1970s.
“They played 14 sold-out shows at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium between 1975 and 1978,” it continued. “Signing with Warner Brothers Records in 1978, Van Halen would go on to release their debut album and embark on their first international tour that same year.
“Pasadena is proud to recognize Van Halen and honor the band’s Pasadena roots and lifelong legacy.”
Pictures and videos from the ceremony taken by those who attended can be found below.
In a post to their Facebook account, Pasadena 4 Van Halen wrote, “A huge thanks to everyone who has supported Pasadena 4 Van Halen and our Van Halen Stage Project. It was so wonderful to see hundreds of people wearing Van Halen t-shirts at the stage dedication this morning.”
According to one attendee, “Sadly, none of the surviving band members or Eddie's son, Wolfie, were in attendance. But apparently David Lee Roth rode his bike by quite often during the construction.”
The Van Halen Stage was named following a city-wide survey in 2021, which was held in an effort to discern what the public thought the new outdoor venue should be called. As reported by Pasadena Now, after two rounds of voting, Eddie Van Halen received more than 3,400 votes.
The runner-up in the survey was the name of science fiction writer Octavia Butler, who received 526 votes.
Pasadena’s Van Halen Stage can be found in the city’s newly built Playhouse Village Park, which is located at 701 East Union Street.
The stage is the latest Van Halen tribute to be officially opened in Pasadena, following the unveiling of a plaque dedicated to Eddie Van Halen outside the city’s Civic Auditorium.
Another tribute planned and championed by Pasadena 4 Van Halen, the plaque reads, “Regarded as one of the most successful bands of all time, Van Halen will forever be remembered for reinventing rock ‘n’ roll and their connection to Pasadena.”
