Nijmegen mayor Hubert Bruls presented the 73-year-old drummer with the royal decoration during a ceremony at the Berchmanianum, the academy building of Radboud University.
The Order of the Netherlands Lion is one of the country’s most prestigious civilian honors.
“My cousin organized most of this. But I’m very grateful,” said Alex. “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.”
With more than 80 million albums sold worldwide, Van Halen were inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 2007; five years after the band performed their final concert at the Hollywood Bowl in October of 2015, Eddie passed away in 2020 at the age of 65 from a stroke and other issues following a lengthy battle with cancer.
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