Alex Van Halen’s new memoir, Brothers, hits stores on Tuesday, October 22. The book, which the drummer wrote as a tribute to his late brother and bandmate, Eddie, focuses on their lives through frontman David Lee Roth’s departure from Van Halen in 1985.
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In Brothers, Alex says that until Eddie’s death from cancer in 2020, he considered Roth’s split from Van Halen “the most disappointing thing I’d experienced in my life, the thing that seemed the most wasteful and unjust.”
In a new interview with Billboard, Alex reflected on the Roth era of Van Halen and explained why he values the work the band did during its initial run with the singer.
“He was one of the three main components of the band,” the 71-year-old musician maintained. “At the time we didn’t recognize it because we were constantly battling things out. That’s why I mentioned [in the book] that the first person I called when Ed died was Dave because I felt like I owed him that, to the work we had done together and the fact that our families knew each other and the fact that everybody was sort of on the same level, if you will, when we first started.”
As for what happened that led to Roth leaving Van Halen, Alex said, “I don’t know where things went wrong. … I have nothing but the utmost respect for Dave and his work ethic. I just think some of his choices were really strange to me, but that’s not my job to figure it out.”
Why Alex Decided to End Brothers with Roth’s Exit from Van Halen
Alex told Billboard that his decision to end Brothers following Roth’s departure from the band—not including the segments focusing on Eddie’s death—had to do, in part, with “limitations to how big the book could be.” He also said that finishing with that part of the group’s history made sense to him.
“What happened after Dave left is not the same band,” Alex noted. “I’m not saying it was better or worse or any of that. The fact is Ed and I did our best work whenever we played. We always gave it our best shot. But the magic was in the first years, when we didn’t know what we were doing, when we were willing to try anything.”
About the Aborted Plan for an Eddie Van Halen Tribute Tour
In a recent Rolling Stone interview, Alex revealed that a few years ago, he’d started rehearsing with Roth for a planned tour paying tribute to Eddie. According to the drummer, the plan was scrubbed when Roth vehemently opposed the idea of including a special homage to Eddie in the show.
Alex told Billboard that despite the falling out over the nixed trek, he was “not angry at all with Dave.”
Van Halen also shared his feelings about Sammy Hagar’s recent The Best of All Worlds Tour, which featured longtime Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony and focused on celebrating the band’s music from the period when Hagar was the frontman.
“I’m not interested,” Alex insisted. “They’re not doing the band justice. They can do what they want to do. That’s not my business.”
Alex’s Brothers Book Tour
As previously reported, Alex has scheduled a three-city book tour to promote Brothers.
The first stop took place on Monday, October 21, at Barnes & Noble’s Fifth Ave. location in New York City. The second is scheduled for Tuesday, October 22 (the book’s release date), at Books & Greetings in Northvale, New Jersey. The final event will be held on Thursday, October 24, at Robert Frost Auditorium in Culver City, California.
The California event is part of the Talks Live Los Angeles series of onstage conversations. It will feature Alex chatting about the book with his collaborator on the project, author Ariel Levy. Talks Live Los Angeles also is offering the opportunity to view the Q&A session virtually on October 29 at 6 p.m. PT, and on-demand for five days afterward. Those purchasing tickets to both the live and virtual events also will receive a signed copy of Brothers.
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