“I was with him from day one”: Alex Van Halen’s new memoir is a “love letter” to his late brother Eddie

Alex Van Halen’s forthcoming memoir, Brothers, is “a love letter” to his late brother, bandmate and partner in rock Eddie Van Halen.

The book, told with acclaimed New Yorker writer Ariel Levy, was written while Alex was still mourning his sibling’s untimely death. Readers will get an “intimate and open account” of Alex’s life, in which he “shares his personal story of family, friendship, music, and brotherly love in a remarkable tribute to his beloved brother and bandmate.”

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According to a listing on the Van Halen Store website, Brothers will feature the Van Halen drummer’s recollections of his and his brothers’ childhood, first in the Netherlands and then in working-class Pasadena, California. In it, Alex shares the many “tales of musical politics, infighting, and plenty of bad-boy behaviour” that accompany their Van Halen career. The book will also include never-before-seen photos from Alex’s personal collection.

“I was with him from day one,” Alex writes of the late guitar legend. “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.”

Brothers will be released on 22 October via HarperCollins Publishers, at a listed price of $32. Fans who order the memoir from the Van Halen Store website will receive a free exclusive collectible as a bonus.