Eddie Van Halen up-date

Eddie Van Halen will be among those helping launch "What It Means To Be American", a new three-year initiative by The Smithsonian's National Museum of American History and Los Angeles-based Ideas Exchange Zocalo Public Square. 

 The project is aimed at engaging leading thinkers, public figures and Americans from all walks of life to explore how the United States became the nation it is today. 

 One of the campaign's goals is to foster a national conversation through a series of free public events across the U.S. The kick-off event on January 14 will feature former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor and Anna Maria Chavez, CEO of the Girl Scouts of the USA, at the Heard Museum, a Smithsonian Affiliate in Phoenix. Eddie Van Halen will headline the next event at the National Museum of American History in February 2015.