Van Halen drummer Alex Van Halen is about to release his memoir, “Brothers,” which covers the life of he and his brother Eddie from childhood up until the original Van Halen split in 1984.
A few years back, Alex was gearing up for a tribute tour for his late brother that reportedly would feature himself, Michael Anthony, Joe Satriani and David Lee Roth. Other reports said ex-Metallica bassist Jason Newsted would be a part of the fold, too, though none of the plans ever materialized.
In a new interview with Rolling Stone, Alex revealed why the plans fell apart, and he puts it down to Roth. “The thing that broke the camel’s back, and I can be honest about this now,” Alex said, “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 f&ckin’ popped a fuse.… The vitriol that came out was unbelievable.”
“I’m from the street,” he continued. “‘You talk to me like that, motherf*cker, I’m gonna beat your f*cking brains out. You got it?’ And I mean that. And that’s how it ended. 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, motherf*cker. It’s not you alone anymore.”
According to Rolling Stone, Roth declined comment for the story. “Because now, in retrospect, playing the old songs is not really paying tribute to anybody,” Alex said. “That’s just like a jukebox, in my opinion.… To find a replacement for Ed? It’s just not the same.”
Alex also only made a very brief mention to the Sammy Hagar era in his book saying: “The heart and the soul and the creativity and the magic was Dave, Ed, Mike, and me,” he wrote. “We had a lot of other singers over the years.”
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