The audiobook version of Alex Van Halen’s upcoming memoir Brothers will feature an incredible added bonus, as it will be soundtracked by the last piece of music that the Van Halen drummer wrote with his late brother, guitarist Eddie Van Halen. The previously unreleased track, titled “Unfinished,” will be heard as Alex narrates his story.
Brothers, set for release on October 22nd via HarperCollins (available for pre-order here), has been described as a “love letter” to Eddie. Alex himself noted, “This is my tribute to my brother; my way of saying goodbye. Ed, I love you and miss you. When I see you again, I’m gonna kick your ass!”
The 384-page book details Alex and Eddie’s lives from their childhood to the guitarist’s passing in 2020. As Alex describes, “I was with him from day one. 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.”
Alex has remained reclusive after releasing a brief statement upon his brother’s passing in October 2020, in which he said, “Hey, Ed. Love you. See you on the other side. Your brother, Al.” Since then, he hasn’t done any interviews or performed publicly.
Sammy Hagar revealed that he reached out to Alex about taking part in his current “Best of All Worlds” tour, but didn’t get any response from the drummer. “He, I guess, just doesn’t like playing without his brother,” Hagar told Arizona Republic earlier this year. “Don’t blame him. God bless him.”
Van Halen’s final album was 2012’s A Different Kind of Truth. The lineup featured Eddie, Alex, Wolfgang Van Halen, and David Lee Roth. The band played its last show on October 4th, 2015, at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles.
See the cover for Alex Van Halen’s memoir Brothers below, and pre-order the book at this location.