Alex Van Halen Publishes ‘Brothers’ Memoir, His ‘Love Letter’ to Eddie
by Best Classic Bands Staff
Alex Van Halen has published his very personal account of his brother Eddie in the memoir, Brothers. The eagerly anticipated book arrived on October 22, 2024, via Harper. It’s available in the U.S. here and in the U.K. here. He’s also shared a previously unreleased recording that the pair wrote together, that’s featured in the audiobook version of Brothers. Listen to it below.
[The drummer has been doing a handful of book signings (Oct. 21 in New York in Northvale, NJ). He’ll also do a live conversation event on Oct. 24 at 8 p.m. at Live Talks LA at the Frost Auditorium in Los Angeles that quickly sold out. If additional tickets, they’ll be available here.]
From the publisher’s original announcement of the book: 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. The legendary classic rock guitarist died after battling cancer on October 6, 2020, at age 65. [His heartbroken family and peers paid tribute upon his passing.]
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 Van Halen, and Alex wants to set the record straight on Edward’s life and death.
Brothers includes never-before-seen photos from Alex Van Halen’s private archives.
Listen to the six-minute recording that the brothers wrote together
3 Comments so far
Jump into a conversationI can’t wait to read this. If anyone would know the truth about Van Halen, it’s Alex.
It’s gotten to where the only books I read the last few years have been rock bios. This one goes on my Xmas wish list.
Well, that book from one of their tour manager’s was pretty spot on about what he witnessed from them. Especially when he had to defend himself from Alex & Ed’s lawsuit accusing him of mismanagement and theft, with him responding with detailed records of what was what with their personal statuses after years of successful touring. The saying that “recollections may vary” will prove quite interesting with this book