The Alex Van Halen Rolling Stone Interview

[MikeyTheCat]

My Brother, Eddie Van Halen: Alex Van Halen Tells All

In his first interview since Eddie Van Halen's death, Alex Van Halen tells all – including the story behind a cancelled tour with David Lee Roth

www.rollingstone.com

 

[MikeyTheCat]

Interesting that it ends there.
"Alex is about to publish a book, the frank, funny memoir Brothers, tracing his life with Eddie from their childhood to the end of the original Van Halen lineup in 1984."

 

[MikeyTheCat]

I would like to hear Roth's side of the story, and his reasons.
But now we know how bad off Alex is.
I do like Alex's realizing that playing the old songs without Ed wouldn't be the same.
And damn does he hate Sammy.

THERE WAS A MOMENT WHEN it seemed like Van Halen, the band, might survive the death of its guitarist. Rumors of a planned post-Eddie tour, with Alex back on drums behind frontman David Lee Roth, were true. Shortly before the shooting-range incident, Alex and Roth began early rehearsals for that tour, with two musicians from the singer’s solo band serving as “seat fillers.” The idea was to eventually bring in Joe Satriani on guitar, and maybe even original bassist Michael Anthony, who hadn’t played with Van Halen since 2004, after which Alex and Eddie replaced him with Eddie’s then-teenage son, Wolfgang Van Halen. But in those early rehearsals, Alex started feeling numbness, peripheral neuropathy, especially in his feet. He wondered if it was an “omen from above,” a warning not to do the tour.


The plans ended up collapsing anyway, even before his vertebrae did. After several phone conversations with Queen’s Brian May about how that band carries on without Freddie Mercury, Alex came away with ideas about how to proceed. “The thing that broke the camel’s back, and I can be honest about this now,” Alex says, “was I said, ‘Dave, at some point, we have to have a very overt — not a bowing — but an acknowledgment of Ed in the gig. If you look at how Queen does it, they show old footage.’ And the moment I said we gotta acknowledge Ed, Dave fuckin’ popped a fuse.… The vitriol that came out was unbelievable.”


As Alex tells it, Roth simply refused to pay tribute to his brother, found the very idea offensive, for reasons he can’t comprehend. Alex was … displeased. “I’m from the street,” he says. “‘You talk to me like that, motherfucker, I’m gonna beat your fucking brains out. You got it?’ And I mean that. And that’s how it ended.” Alex remains baffled. “It’s just, my God. It’s like I didn’t know him anymore. I have nothing but the utmost respect for his work ethic and all that. But, Dave, you gotta work as a community, motherfucker. It’s not you alone anymore.” (Roth declined to comment.)


Alex has few regrets about the aborted tour, which he would have been physically unable to do, anyway. “It’s too bad on one hand, but it’s fine on the other,” he says. “Because now, in retrospect, playing the old songs is not really paying tribute to anybody. That’s just like a jukebox, in my opinion.… To find a replacement for Ed? It’s just not the same.” Van Halen’s second singer, Sammy Hagar, recently went on tour with Satriani and Anthony, playing those old songs. Alex won’t even utter Hagar’s name. “The heart and the soul and the creativity and the magic was Dave, Ed, Mike, and me,” he says. He’s at least as cutting in his book: “We had a lot of other singers over the years,” he writes, in his only acknowledgment of the Van Hagar era.

Truth is, Alex got along with David Lee Roth better than anyone else in the band ever did. After Eddie’s death, Alex’s first call was to Roth, and even after that rehearsal blowup, they’re still in touch. Roth recently fired some shots at Wolfgang, Alex’s nephew, calling him “this fucking kid,” but Alex laughs that off. “To me, it’s a sign of respect,” he says, “that he actually thinks that Wolfie’s on the same level as the old master Dave, right? The other thing is that Wolf can easily take care of himself. It’s not a problem.”

 

[Leee]

Shortly before the shooting-range incident, Alex and Roth began early rehearsals for that tour

Shooting-range incident?

 

[fry]

Shooting-range incident?

I didn’t know anything about Alex having these issues with his spine, sounds awful. Here’s a little section I grabbed from the interview about the shooting range.

“Alex’s spine finally gave way when he went to a shooting range with some friends in 2022. “The rifle kicked me on my ass,” Alex says, “and broke my back, instantly. And then I spent a year on the floor. Just staring at the ceiling”.

 

[Bluesky]

I cant read it now........I will later for sure! I cant wait for the book!

 

[fry]

I cant read it now........I will later for sure! I cant wait for the book!

I found the interview right away. I read part of it, then stopped. I went back to finish, and Rolling Stone wanted me to pay for a subscription to finish. Oh well.

 

[Bluesky]

God damn. I wish he tried to beat the shit out of dave.........Id love to see if he really does know any Karate.

 

[LPMarshall Hack]

"I'm from the street....!"


lol

 

[Leee]

Yeah, straight outta Compton.

GTFOOH

 

[MikeyTheCat]

I knew that Al and Dave got the gigs and made sure they were paid, and they had business to attend to, but it seems they were closer than I thought.
And both Dave and Al took the Van Drama with the grain of salt.
The part about Beat It was a bit surprising. I didn’t think playing outside the band was something that Al was strict on, I thought that was Ed.

 

[Bluesky]

"I'm from the street....!"


lol

I think he was referring to his poor upbringing by 1st generation imagrant family as opposed to Daves rich Dr. DADDY. He basically called dave a rich bitch.

 

[SteveC]

Well, it seems that it all went to shit in a hurry.

Sad.

 

[LPMarshall Hack]

I think he was referring to his poor upbringing by 1st generation imagrant family as opposed to Daves rich Dr. DADDY. He basically called dave a rich bitch.

Pasadena's a rough place...lol

 

[MikeyTheCat]

Well, it seems that it all went to shit in a hurry.

Sad.

But they had more lives than a cat.

While I would love to hear what went down from Dave I do think he knows when to let it go, or when something is just that dynamic of their relationship.

And boy does Al hate Sammy.

 

[ADF]

Of course there are three sides to every story. This is the other side Al doesn't discuss.

Van Halen's manager Ed Leffler died in 1993. Supposedly he took care of every non-music related thing for the band, and all the members concentrated on was music. If you watch interviews with Van Halen from '86 to '93, they were a giant love-fest. They all got along and churned out multi-platinum #1 albums without blinking an eye.

But after Leffler died, Ray Danniels was brought in to manage the band. And anyone that's ever had to deal with nepotism, here is the vital part:

Ray Danniels was Alex Van Helen's brother in law.

The first thing Danniels wanted to do as manager was release a greatest hits album. However, Sammy balked, as he had no intention of giving Danniels 10% (or whatever the manager's share was) for music that was going to sell millions that Danniels had no part of.

This pissed off Al, and the brothers were not used to not getting there way.

There was then a big discrepancy over the recording of Humans Being, as Sammy's wife was giving birth at the time.

The fracture was irreparable, but in the split, the Van Halen brothers - who were never good at business - either gave up or forfeited their share of the tequila/Cabo business.

Napster came along, royalties dwindled, but the tequila/Cabo business skyrocketed; and it all went to Sammy.

 

[MikeyTheCat]

I think there was a bond,a dysfunctional bond, but still a bond with the original four that Sammy wasn’t part of and that he never really understood. Sam never was in the trenches and backyard parties like the others, and the fights and creating Van Halen. I’m mind reading here but I think for Sam it was joining an already great band. Sam already had his Ferrari and never shared riding in a broken down Opel with Al like Dave. Not Sam’s bad for joining when he did, he carried his share while in the band, but being older, established and with a desire to make a Buck I think he was always just not as connected to the brothers.
But boy, does Al hate Sam. Won’t even say his name.

 

[Bluesky]

Pasadena's a rough place...lol

Nah but apparently they didnt speak a word of english and were targets of bullies daily. Just off the boat I can definitely see Alex getting ready to rumble when threatened ,as opposed to DLR who was the son of a Doctor and never really went hungry ever.

 

[Bluesky]

I think there was a bond,a dysfunctional bond, but still a bond with the original four that Sammy wasn’t part of and that he never really understood. Sam never was in the trenches and backyard parties like the others, and the fights and creating Van Halen. I’m mind reading here but I think for Sam it was joining an already great band. Sam already had his Ferrari and never shared riding in a broken down Opel with Al like Dave. Not Sam’s bad for joining when he did, he carried his share while in the band, but being older, established and with a desire to make a Buck I think he was always just not as connected to the brothers.
But boy, does Al hate Sam. Won’t even say his name.

I agree with alot of that. I also think he may be pissed that Sam made Micheal Anthony valid. The brothers shit on him like a scat buffet , Mike could make Any VH tribute " valid" and out of Alex's control. Remember the HOF ? Only Mike and Sammy showed up.
In the past Mikey did what he was told. Add to that......... Sammy was an entrepreneur, using his success as the singer for VH to turn businesses into multi million companies. And because he wasnt drunk or divorced 3 times .......Mike paid attention and made his own businesses very successful.

This kind of resentment is hard to overcome by anyone.....the VH brothers were often medicated and had people with there own best intrests at stake..........not VHs.........in thier ear. DLR is not a threat so its easy to see why Alex was more comfortable with him , even after he refused to honor Eddie.

Alex is a hero of mine. Im probably more of a drummer then anything. But Im really saddened think of him broken down with a walker. I hope and pray hes in better shape physically then Im assuming he is. That life style has finally for over 50 yrs has finally come home to roost.

 

[JTM45]

These are some good excerpts, I’m going to have to check it out