In his only on-camera interview from his home, Alex Van Halen recently spoke with Bringing It Back To The Beatles about his new memoir, “Brothers”. Alex tells the story from the beginning about how, when they first transitioned from piano, it was Alex who played guitar and Ed who took up drums. Also, why David Lee Roth wasn’t a great fit at first, and his last words to Ed.
Alex: “When Ed passed, it came at the height of COVID. We didn’t really have the opportunity to get close enough and hold him while we were talking to him. He was behind a (screen) thing, or we were in a hazmat suit, or there had to be some distance because his immunity was down so low, God forbid one of of us should end up spreading something to him. So I never really got to say goodbye (or) Ed, we had a good time. When you have a career as long as us – a lifetime in music – in the back of your head you always think ‘We’re gonna sit on the top of a hill, we’re gonna congratulate each other…’ but we never got to do that.”
Alex Van Halen’s “Brothers” memoir is out now. As an exclusive bonus, fans who order direct from Van Halen Store will receive their exclusive photo print collection of the young Van Halen brothers (four 4″ x 6″ photos, suitable for framing). Order here.
In this intimate and open account – nothing like any rock-and-roll memoir you’ve ever read – Alex Van Halen shares his personal story of family, friendship, music, and brotherly love in a remarkable tribute to his beloved brother and bandmate.
Told with acclaimed New Yorker writer Ariel Levy, Brothers is seventy-year-old drummer Alex Van Halen’s love letter to his younger brother, Edward (Maybe “Ed,” but never “Eddie”), written while still mourning his untimely death.
In his rough yet sweet voice, Alex recounts the brothers’ childhood, first in the Netherlands and then in working-class Pasadena, California, with an itinerant musician father and a very proper Indonesian-born mother—the kind of mom who admonished her boys to “always wear a suit” no matter how famous they became—a woman who was both proud and practical, nonchalant about taking a doggie bag from a star-studded dinner. He also shares tales of musical politics, infighting, and plenty of bad-boy behavior. But mostly, his is a story of brotherhood, music, and enduring love.
“I was with him from day one,” Alex writes. “We shared the experience of coming to this country and figuring out how to fit in. We shared a record player, an 800-square-foot house, a mom and dad, and a work ethic. Later, we shared the back of a tour bus, alcoholism, the experience of becoming famous, of becoming fathers and uncles, and of spending more hours in the studio than I’ve spent doing anything else in this life. We shared a depth of understanding that most people can only hope to achieve in a lifetime.”
There has never been an accurate account of them or the band, and Alex wants to set the record straight on Edward’s life and death.
“Brothers” includes never-before-seen photos from the author’s private archive.
“A chronicle of family and talent and the passion to create … the definitive take on Edward Van Halen’s life and death from the one who knew and loved him best.” – Brothers editor, Sara Nelson
The full 6-minute version of “Unfinished”, the final song that Edward and Alex Van Halen wrote together is now available for download at Van-Halen.com. The song is featured in the audiobook version of Brothers.