Last week it was announced that Van Halen drummer Alex Van Halen is planning to release his memoir, “Brothers,” in October. This comes after last year’s speculation that a tribute concert to his brother, the late Eddie Van Halen, was in the works but ultimately sputtered for various reasons. Former Van Halen singer Sammy Hagar is planning his own Van Halen tribute for his “Best Of All Worlds” tour later this year.
With Alex Van Halen’s announcement of a book, many Van Halen fans wonder if he’ll ever return to the stage. The drummer has only ever performed live alongside his brother. Greg Renoff and Chris Gill, authors of two extensive Van Halen books, talked about the possibility on the “Booked On Rock” podcast. Gill said the prospect doesn’t look good.
“I can tell you what I know, and the ship has sailed from everything that I’ve heard out there,” stated Gill. “And I wish I could tell people more, but the sad fact of the matter is there’s been attempts. We’ve heard leaks of stuff. There’s been attempts on Alex’s side, there’s been attempts on Wolfgang’s side. They both earnestly want to do a proper tribute, and there are other forces at play that have made that essentially an impossibility.”
Gill said Eddie’s son, Wolfgang Van Halen, likely wanted a tribute similar to what Foo Fighters did for their late drummer Taylor Hawkins. Renoff added that Alex Van Halen might not be up to playing due to issues with his health.
“Drumming is such a physical activity and I wonder how Alex is feeling physically,” Renoff said. “It might be tough trying to do a tour, that might be part of the calculation, too. It’s like, you know what? It’s not worth it physically because it’s going to be tough.”
“I mean, I can’t run like I ran 20 years ago. I could barely run like I ran 3 years ago! We all get older. It could be a physical situation, too. I take it there had been some talk about trying to do some shows with Dave and with Satriani, and there was going to be more than one show, it sounded like. Physically, it might be a big lift for a drummer.”
Gill and Renoff’s full interview can be viewed below.
