Brothers Alex (top) and Eddie Van Halen in an undated photo.

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When guitarist Eddie Van Halen died of cancer In 2020, his older brother Alex was overcome with grief. With just 20 months of age difference, they had grown up together like “a yin and a yang… two halves of a whole,” Alex says.

Raised by a Dutch father and an Indonesian mother, the brothers immigrated to the U.S. from the Netherlands when Alex was 8 and Eddie was 6. In California, they learned to play music, primarily classical and military marches, but their approach He switched to rock once. they began to listen The Beatles and The Dave Clark Five. In 1974 they formed the band. Van Halenwith vocalist David Lee Roth and bassist Michael Anthony.

At first, Alex was the family’s guitarist, but he discovered that he “had no connection to the instrument,” he says. “I just wasn’t feeling it.” His brother’s connection to the guitar, on the other hand, seemed like a thing of fate. “The fact is, when Ed played, he made the instrument sing. It was incredible. (I told him), ‘Ed, you’re playing the guitar. I want the drums.'”

Known for their flamboyant, high-energy performances, Van Halen would produce 12 studio albums and singles including “Runnin’ with the Devil,” “Hot for Teacher” and the 1983 anthem, “Jump.” Some famous lineup changes (mostly singers) throughout their career, but Eddie and Alex are the only members of Van Halen to play on all of those albums.

In the new memoirs, siblingsAlex remembers his relationship with Eddie and the decades they spent playing music together. “We left a lot of things unfinished,” he says. “Obviously, every time I listen to some of our music, it brings me back to that state.”

Interview Highlights

Brothers, by Alex Van Halen

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On how Eddie Van Halen found his voice as a guitarist

He played the guitar from the moment he got up until he went to sleep. And it was simply his way of communicating or finding peace with himself and the earth. … It’s just that Ed had a sensitivity that was very difficult to describe. …The problem with Ed was that he could play anything. So the hardest thing for him was finding his own voice. And he spent a lot of time doing it. Then when he finally found it, that was it. Big smile.

On setting fire to his drums during performances

For me, fire represents temporality, that only the moment counts. I mean, the flame is there and poof, it’s gone. So that’s life, right? So, to me, that represented that. And there was an element of danger because we did it at such an amateur level. … My favorite memory of all of that was that we got it down to a science. And as we do it during the performance, the lighter fluid starts running down my arm. And then I look and notice that my arms are burning. So I’m thinking, that can’t be good, right? Then I look at (my technician) Greg, who, in theory, is there with a fire extinguisher. Then I look at him and he looks at me and gives me a thumbs up. “Looks great, man!” I will never forget it as long as I live.

It turns out that the average male brain doesn’t fully mature until age 27. I’m still waiting.

in it This is spinal puncture Mockumentary that satirized a heavy metal band.

That wasn’t funny at all. Ed and I saw it and said, “That’s what we experienced!” That’s really how things happen. It’s amazing. The public really has no idea what goes on behind the scenes. And I’m certainly not going to burst the bubble. But there were many elements in that film that were truer than a parody.

About the gang that got mad when Eddie played guitar on Michael Jackson’s “Beat It”

If I remember correctly, he did consult us and we told him: No… I wanted to kick his ass, because our model was basically Led Zeppelin. The way they structured their business, the way they structured how they played, who they played with. You couldn’t get Jimmy Page anywhere else. You can only get it on Led Zeppelin. Come to the show. That’s all. You don’t associate with Michael Jackson. But Ed violated that. And a whole cascade of bad, bad vibes began.

On David Lee Roth’s departure from the band in 1985

(Eddie’s collaboration with Michael Jackson) really wasn’t the only thing because things were already starting to fall apart. When we named the album 1984It had nothing to do with the year. It had to do with George Orwell and the dystopia of what was happening. This band was so fractured that we almost never played together anymore. And unfortunately MTV became the predominant way to broadcast all of this. And Dave, being the visible guy, naturally went for more visual things. I don’t blame him for any of that, but it’s a shame (because) we were on the cusp of something really, really big. …No one fights better than friends.

Therese Madden and Thea Chaloner produced and edited this interview for broadcast. Bridget Bentz, Molly Seavy-Nesper and Jacob Ganz adapted it for the web.