Alex Van Halen Tell All Autobiography Book Out This October
Alex Van Halen on the 1984 Tour Cobo Hall
Alex Van Halen in the news this week that publisher HarperCollins Publishers announced a release date for “Brothers”, A new autobiography from Alex Van Halen.
“Brothers,” will most likely cover the early beginning of Alex & Eddie, Van Halen’s Beginnings, life on the road home life, and more.
Eddie and Alex founded Van Halen in 1972. The band would go on to sell over 80 million albums worldwide. Both Eddie and Alex would go on to inspire generations of future guitarists and drummers.
How The Van Halen Boys Started
The son of a Dutch bandleader, The Father Eddie Van Halen, and his family moved from the Netherlands to Pasadena, California, in 1962, when he was seven years old and his older brother, Alex, was nine. Eddie and Alex continued their classical piano training. Eddie learned to play drums and Alex took up the guitar, eventually switching instruments. The brother’s 1st band was called Mammoth and began playing around Pasadena, eventually meeting frontman David Lee Roth. Shortly afterward, bassist Michael Anthony. After discovering that another band had the rights to the name Mammoth, the group decided to call themselves Van Halen.
One Of The Biggest Bands Of The 80s
Word of mouth about Eddie Van Halen’s guitar skills in the rock scene got the notice of Gene Simmons of KISS. Gene who financed a demo recording session and on Simmons’ recommendation, got them signed Van Halen to Warner Bros. Every album released every year made the band more and more popular. In 1984 they reached rock gods status.
Van Halen From My Cheap Seats
What Will Alex Van Halen Tell About In The New Book?
Alex has a lot to cover as he was in the drummer seat to everything Van Halen did. The business side of Van Halen with music, contracts, parties, and the personal behind-the-scenes things we didn’t see. A lot to cover with David Lee Roth and Sammy Hagar era. Even the Wolfgang Van Halen addition sidelined Michael Anthony. Oh and almost forgot Gary Cherone. This will be a book worth waiting for on October 22nd.
“Eddie & Alex Talk about why Sammy was no longer in Van Halen and what happened between Eddie and David backstage after the 1996 music awards
How Much Gossip Is Alex Going To Spill?
It will be interesting on what the book will feature tell-all wize. Or will the book feature as a loving tribute to his late brother Eddie Van Halen who passed away in 2020. In early 2022, it was confirmed that Alex had been in talks with Roth and guitarist Joe Satriani to put on a special show in honor of his brother. However it never even got off the ground.
Why I Miss Eddie Van Halen More Than Certain Dead Relatives of Mine
Like everyone else in the world, I’ve experienced my share of loss. Also, like everyone else in the world, I’ve experienced my share of what I’ll refer to as “complicated loss.” For the purposes of this article, “complicated loss” is that murky situation when a relative or other prominent figure in your life dies, but your relationship/feelings about said figure aren’t very “sunshine and lollipops.”
It’s the type of situation that reminds me of one of my favorite one-liners from comedian John Mulaney.
Years before he became one of the biggest draws in the world of stand-up, Mulaney landed his first comedy special: 2009’s The Top Part. In that special, he explores his love of Law & Order, his favorite TV show. As he’s funnily touching on all of the show’s various quirks and tropes, he makes his way to how much he enjoys the character Detective Lennie Briscoe played by the late Jerry Orbach. He then hits the audience with this blunt, yet hilarious, line:
“And I miss Jerry Orbach more than certain dead relatives of mine.”
It’s a line that always makes me laugh without fail, even though I know it’s coming. It’s also a line that is seemingly top of mind for me whenever a notable death occurs in pop culture. Sadly, when part of your living comes from covering news in the world of classic rock, you have to deal with death and loss far more than you’d really like. Alas, much like Hyman Roth in The Godfather: Part II, this is the business I’ve chosen. As a result, I have developed the morbid coping mechanism when having to deal with covering a notable death by seeing whether or not I actually miss the dead celebrity more than certain dead relatives of mine.
I’ve covered the rock music world for a decade now. Many deaths have hit me very hard, but the one that hit me harder than most was Eddie Van Halen. For me, his death was the perfect storm of being a massive fan, having it happen while still in the thick of the coronavirus pandemic and also still mourning the loss of my own brother who died six months prior. Add in the fact his innovative force truly changed rock and roll, it makes sense (in my mind, at least) why I would miss Eddie Van Halen more than certain dead relatives of mine.
If you aren’t sold yet by my reasoning, here are some other reasons to support my possibly bonkers headline.
Born in Mt Clemens, Screamin’ Scott has been a part of the Detroit airwaves for 30-plus years. With 40 years of experience in radio. When he’s not out on the streets for WCSX, you can find him devoting time to local charities with his, “Screamin Angels”; and for 16 years with Rock 4 Tots charity. And last 10 years with his local band, "Chit!." Screamin Scott likes to write about nostalgic Detroit area memories, classic rock, and local metro Detroit topics.
