Why Alex Van Halen left Sammy Hagar out of his book

The biography focuses on the relationship between the drummer and his brother, guitarist Eddie Van Halen, ending in 1984, when they separated from original singer David Lee Roth

The drummer Alex Van Halen surprised by publishing a book in 2024 about his relationship with his brother, the late guitarist Eddie Van Halen. The story of brotherswork not yet released nationally, is naturally confused with the band that bears the musicians’ surname, one of the greatest in the history of rock. The group’s career is then also told.

Even more unusual was the decision to end the story in 1984, the last year before the original singer’s departure. David Lee Roth. The following path both individually and as a group, which reinvented itself and continued to be successful with the singer Sammy Hagar – ended up completely ignored.

Why? In an interview with Bringing it back to the Beatles (go Chatty), Alex explained the decision he made. For him, the excitement of the band’s early years proved insurmountable.

“The original band was the driving force. That was the connection between disparate parts of the musical world. And we were young. The first record that went platinum – that’s amazing. That’s something you can never expect to happen again. Later, it was different: this will be the subject of another book. The excitement, the confusion, the groping in the dark, all the mistakes we made, all the nonsense we had to put up with… and then recognizing it at the end. end: maybe we should have done another record inside of us.”

Also in his statement, the drummer underlined that the feeling of regret exists and “is in his head”, but “there is no going back”. He also acknowledged that the band made “some bad choices”. All this represents, in the words of the interviewer – and underlined by the musician – “real rock and roll”.

“That’s why the book ends in 1984: because that was real rock and roll. After that, it became something I can’t explain. Not to say it wasn’t good, but it wasn’t the same. […] Ed’s example was that we were happier playing small clubs than when we achieved so-called “stardom”, because in the clubs you weren’t sure what you were doing. It could change direction quickly. And it’s intimate. You are a few meters away. The people are right there in front of you. And that disappears when you have a bunch of security guards.”

“The spirit of Van Halen ended in 1984”

More directly, Alex Van Halen reflected on the end of his book in 1984 in another interview, with United States today. The drummer said:

“For me, the spirit of the band ended in 1984. After that we did good work, but the primary spiritual aspect, the magic, the potential, the vision of the future together, all that stuff, our mutually strange origins – that’s what made me and Van Halen weird. Dave was these kind of intangible things that formed the fabric of how we were together.”

The classical phase member was also ignored

It wasn’t just Van Halen’s later stages that ended up ignored in Brothers. One member of the lineup from the first albums also received very few mentions: the bassist Michele Antonio.

In an interview with The Guardian (go Igor Miranda’s website), Alex Van Halen gave a succinct answer when asked about Anthony’s near-total absence from work. He said:

“A lovely guy, but he just wasn’t part of the equation.”

+++ READ MORE: The sad final moments of Eddie Van Halen, narrated by Alex

+++ READ MORE: Alex Van Halen’s review of Van Halen’s first album

+++ READ MORE: The white flag Sammy Hagar waved at Alex Van Halen: ‘I won’t take this to my grave’

Source: Terra

Earl

Earl Johnson is a music writer at Gossipify, known for his in-depth analysis and unique perspective on the industry. A graduate of USC with a degree in Music, he brings years of experience and passion to his writing. He covers the latest releases and trends, always on the lookout for the next big thing in music.