Connect with us

CELEBRITY

‘If I Start Throwing Dirt, It’ll Never End’: Alex Van Halen on Why He Didn’t Want His ‘Brothers’ Book to Be a Tell-All: “Before I die I would like to at least partially set the record straight.”

Published

on

‘If I Start Throwing Dirt, It’ll Never End’: Alex Van Halen on Why He Didn’t Want His ‘Brothers’ Book to Be a Tell-All: "Before I die I would like to at least partially set the record straight."

 

Alex Van Halen hopes that those coming to his new memoir, Brothers, for a tell-all will be disappointed. “It’s not about the dirt,” Van Halen, older brother and bandmate of the late Eddie Van Halen, tells Billboard. “If I start throwing dirt, it’ll never end. I think some people would like that; that’s how projects are sold nowadays. I think it divides the audience, and we’re not here to divide. I think the tone of the book and how I want the book to be perceived is more on a spiritual and creative level. That’s why there’s very little, or any, dirt in there.

 

‘If I Start Throwing Dirt, It’ll Never End’: Alex Van Halen on Why He Didn’t Want His ‘Brothers’ Book to Be a Tell-All: "Before I die I would like to at least partially set the record straight."

“The majority of things that were written about Ed were third party,” he continues. “They weren’t really there. I’m not degrading any of it, but it’s not accurate. I really felt like a lot of the stuff that was out there was incorrect, and it didn’t do justice to the more sensitive side of Ed. So before I die I would like to at least partially set the record straight.”

Brothers, publishing Oct. 22 and written with New Yorker staff writer Ariel Levy, acknowledges the sex and drugs and rock n’ roll. But as the title indicates it’s primarily a chronicle of the drummer’s relationship with his guitar hero brother, who passed way during Oct. 2020 at the age of 65 after a long battle with cancer. The tome is undeniably emotional, with some passages written directly to his late brother. Van Halen acknowledges that the process “really took its toll on me.”

“You have to remember we were together for 65 years; that’s a lifetime, if not more,” explains Van Halen, who was born in Amsterdam and came to the United States with his family in 1962, eventually settling in Pasadena, Calif., where the Van Halen band was formed in 1974. “(Brothers) not only forced me to look at everything Ed and I had done in our lifetime, but also — and I should thank Ed for this — it forced me to look at me. What are my motivations? Why am I really doing this? Who does anybody do this? It took me a lot of places…very heavy.”

Throughout Brothers’ 231 pages, Van Halen discloses the tight bond between him and Eddie, personally and musically — and presents the connection between those two as one and the same thing. Van Halen offers a detailed account of the entire family dynamics, too, from the influence of their father, Jan, a jazz musician, and their more strict Dutch East Indies-born mother Eugenia, and the impact of immigrating to America and being treated as outsiders. The passion for music came early and was a constant, of course, and one can read in Brothers a kind of mission on Van Halen’s part to offer a more expansive and sophisticated view of his brother’s talents.

“There was more going on than most people recognize or realize, and it’s not our job to ‘teach’ people,” explains Van Halen, who also makes use in the book of a variety of other sources, including published interviews with his brother, books by original frontman David Lee Roth and producer Ted Templeman, and philosophers such as Friedrich Nietzsche. The brothers, who first learned to play piano, actually started out on each other’s instruments before switching as teenagers.

“When Ed picked (the guitar) up he could make it sing. It was amazing. That sound, that intonation was phenomenal. You couldn’t express it in words. Everybody gets blinded by the fact Ed was such a phenomenal player (that) you’re not even understanding who the human being was. Maybe people don’t care, but I care. He’s my brother.”

Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

THIS IS SO EMOTIONAL: Super Bowl 2025 was a night of triumph for the Philadelphia Eagles, but the biggest surprise came after the game, when Jalen Hurts stole the spotlight with a heartfelt proposal to his girlfriend Bry Burrows
CELEBRITY1 day ago

THIS IS SO EMOTIONAL: Super Bowl 2025 was a night of triumph for the Philadelphia Eagles, but the biggest surprise came after the game, when Jalen Hurts stole the spotlight with a heartfelt proposal to his girlfriend Bry Burrows

“VERY EMOTIONAL!” –Eagles’ Star Jalen Hurts Proposes to Longtime Girlfriend Bry Burrows with  $7.253 Million Engagement Ring After Winning Super Bowl LIX. WATCH Bry, visibly overwhelmed with Joy and emotion...And Taylor Swift’s Reaction Says It All...See Photos
CELEBRITY1 day ago

“VERY EMOTIONAL!” –Eagles’ Star Jalen Hurts Proposes to Longtime Girlfriend Bry Burrows with  $7.253 Million Engagement Ring After Winning Super Bowl LIX. WATCH Bry, visibly overwhelmed with Joy and emotion…And Taylor Swift’s Reaction Says It All…See Photos

JUST IN: City Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes sends heartfelt message to Chiefs Kingdom after loss to Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl 59
CELEBRITY1 day ago

JUST IN: City Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes sends heartfelt message to Chiefs Kingdom after loss to Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl 59

Breaking: President Donald Trump Admits He Supported The Philadelphia Eagles Over Chiefs Due to Taylor Swift’s Actions at Super Bowl
CELEBRITY2 days ago

Breaking: President Donald Trump Admits He Supported The Philadelphia Eagles Over Chiefs Due to Taylor Swift’s Actions at Super Bowl

Breaking: Kansas City Chiefs unable to make historic 3-peat bid at Super Bowl LIX: Here are Five things that went wrong for Chiefs!
CELEBRITY2 days ago

Breaking: Kansas City Chiefs unable to make historic 3-peat bid at Super Bowl LIX: Here are Five things that went wrong for Chiefs!

Breaking: Taylor Swift looks so Devastated as the Eagles take 24-0 lead over Chiefs in Super Bowl 2025 and she is holding her mouth wide open in shock as Travis Kelce sustained a fatal injury when trying to... See more
CELEBRITY3 days ago

Breaking: Taylor Swift looks so Devastated as the Eagles take 24-0 lead over Chiefs in Super Bowl 2025 and she is holding her mouth wide open in shock as Travis Kelce sustained a fatal injury when trying to… See more

JUST IN: Taylor Swift Booed by Thousands of Eagles Fans at Super Bowl 2025- As the camera lingered, Swift gave a subtle side-eye and a smirk—Her Sarcastic Reaction Goes Viral
CELEBRITY3 days ago

JUST IN: Taylor Swift Booed by Thousands of Eagles Fans at Super Bowl 2025- As the camera lingered, Swift gave a subtle side-eye and a smirk—Her Sarcastic Reaction Goes Viral

Breaking: Brittany Mahomes Brings Newborn Golden Raye to the Super Bowl but Fans Blast Her for ‘Losing Control’ in Viral Video as Crying Daughter Sterling Refuses to Cooperate for a Photo
CELEBRITY3 days ago

Breaking: Brittany Mahomes Brings Newborn Golden Raye to the Super Bowl but Fans Blast Her for ‘Losing Control’ in Viral Video as Crying Daughter Sterling Refuses to Cooperate for a Photo

Just in: Taylor Swift delivers 4-word message to Fans amid date night with Travis Kelce
CELEBRITY3 days ago

Just in: Taylor Swift delivers 4-word message to Fans amid Chiefs loss to Eagles in an epic match and made Travis Kelce furious

Travis Kelce shares four-word Instagram message amid backlash: ravis Kelce has taken to Instagram to share a hype video ahead of tonight’s Super Bowl against the Philadelphia Eagles in New Orleans.
CELEBRITY3 days ago

Travis Kelce shares four-word Instagram message amid backlash: ravis Kelce has taken to Instagram to share a hype video ahead of tonight’s Super Bowl against the Philadelphia Eagles in New Orleans.

JUST IN: If you believe we will win the super bowl say GO CHIEFS! Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles prepare to face off as festivities begin in New Orleans
CELEBRITY3 days ago

JUST IN: If you believe we will win the super bowl say GO CHIEFS! Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles prepare to face off as festivities begin in New Orleans

Breaking: Travis Kelce shares Donna Kelce’s ritual before every Super Bowl game: As Super Bowl 59 looms, Travis, shared the one thing that he can not do without.
CELEBRITY3 days ago

Breaking: Travis Kelce shares Donna Kelce’s ritual before every Super Bowl game: As Super Bowl 59 looms, Travis, shared the one thing that he can not do without.

Copyright © 2024 Newsmous