Alex Van Halen opens up about life with Eddie in new book: 'I was with him from day one'

Eddie and Alex Van Halen had the closest musical relationship imaginable, playing together for nearly six decades — even in Van Halen's more down-to-earth periods, when the band was between singers, the brothers rehearsed at Eddie's 5150 Studios to rehearse almost every day. Alex, Van Halen's drummer, has been almost completely silent since Eddie's death from cancer in October 2020, sharing only a brief statement: “Hey, Ed. I love you. I'll see you on the other side. Your brother, Al.”

However, Alex Van Halen has a lot more to say about his late brother, and it's all coming out in his new memoir Brothers, which is expected to be released on October 22. “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 successful, becoming fathers and uncles, and 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.”

The book's editor, Sara Nelson of HarperCollins, calls the memoir “a chronicle of family and talent and passion for creation … the definitive take on the life and death of Edward Van Halen from the man who knew and loved him best.” .

Van Halen singers David Lee Roth and Sammy Hagar have both released memoirs over the years, and there have been no shortage of other Van Halen books over the years, including a memoir by first manager Noel Monk Runnin' with the Devil: A Backstage Pass to the Wild Times, Loud Rock, and the Down and Dirty Truth Behind the Making of Van Halen and Greg Renoff was impeccably researched Van Halen Rising: How a Southern California Backyard Party Band Saved Heavy Metal. But Alex is apparently not a fan of any of them. “All these people are writing books about the band and they know nothing about the inner workings of this band,” Alex said. Modern drummer in August 2020. “And Ed and I don't say anything because we're not into the internet crap and the books and all that crap. We just want to play. It is so simple.”