Photo: Corbis Historical
Alex Van Halen's memoir Brothers comes out next week, and as the date approaches the former Van Halen drummer spoke with The New York Times about his relationship with his late brother Eddie Van Halen, which is the premise of the book. During the interview, Alex shared a powerful line from Brothers that reveals what he believes "cost my brother his life."
"You can spend your whole life trying to make what happened before happen again," he wrote, referring to Van Halen's success. "I honestly believe that's what cost my brother his life."
He also divulged that Van Halen was "getting ready to make another record" after playing their final show in 2015, and that his brother kept fighting until his death in October 2020. "I really wanted to emphasize the fact that Ed was brave up until the last minute," he explained about the book. "At the end of the day, he's got nothing to be ashamed of. And I wish that he was here and that I could say, 'Ed, let's try it one more time.' Because I know he had it in him."
Although the album didn't get made, Alex and Eddie were able to record a final song together, titled "Unfinished." The instrumental track soundtracks the audibook version of Brothers. The memoir is slated to hit shelves on October 22.