Alex Van Halen Rolling Stone interview

[sirthx2]

I think I'm in! I'll buy this book. Why the post-dead-Eddie tour fell apart? Whoa!

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/musi ... 235129960/

[The Prez]

Good read. Thanks!
They wanted Ozzy Osbourne to front the band at one point?? WTF

[sirthx2]

Eddie was drunk-dialing everyone and asking them/they/she/he to be the next VH singer. Ozzy at that time would have been interesting.

[alleyrulez]

that was an awesome read.

thanks for sharing.

[daveg]

Fantastic read....So good, that it makes me think I don't need to read the book now.

[FreddyFender]

Van Halen’s second singer, Sammy Hagar, recently went on tour with Satriani and Anthony, playing those old songs. Alex won’t even utter Hagar’s name. “The heart and the soul and the creativity and the magic was Dave, Ed, Mike, and me,” he says. He’s at least as cutting in his book: “We had a lot of other singers over the years,” he writes, in his only acknowledgment of the Van Hagar era.

[Zabooka]

Alex came away with ideas about how to proceed. “The thing that broke the camel’s back, and I can be honest about this now,” Alex says, “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 fuckin’ popped a fuse.… The vitriol that came out was unbelievable.”

As Alex tells it, Roth simply refused to pay tribute to his brother, found the very idea offensive, for reasons he can’t comprehend. Alex was … displeased. “I’m from the street,” he says. “‘You talk to me like that, motherfucker, I’m gonna beat your fucking brains out. You got it?’ And I mean that. And that’s how it ended.” Alex remains baffled. “It’s just, my God. It’s like I didn’t know him anymore.

[The Prez]

Alex came away with ideas about how to proceed. “The thing that broke the camel’s back, and I can be honest about this now,” Alex says, “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 fuckin’ popped a fuse.… The vitriol that came out was unbelievable.”

If that bit is true (which presumably it is) than that's just fucking sad!

[TravisBicklesMohawk]

Never meet your heroes, or in this instance, never read about them.

[Neil Diamond Dave]

Alex came away with ideas about how to proceed. “The thing that broke the camel’s back, and I can be honest about this now,” Alex says, “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 fuckin’ popped a fuse.… The vitriol that came out was unbelievable.”

As Alex tells it, Roth simply refused to pay tribute to his brother, found the very idea offensive, for reasons he can’t comprehend. Alex was … displeased. “I’m from the street,” he says. “‘You talk to me like that, motherfucker, I’m gonna beat your fucking brains out. You got it?’ And I mean that. And that’s how it ended.” Alex remains baffled. “It’s just, my God. It’s like I didn’t know him anymore.

That's unbelievable, but believable. It's incredible how many personalities Dave has had in the many private stories about him. This was a tribute to Ed - How could a sane and reasonable human not at least acknowledge that?

[Wednesday 13 Fan]

Alex came away with ideas about how to proceed. “The thing that broke the camel’s back, and I can be honest about this now,” Alex says, “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 fuckin’ popped a fuse.… The vitriol that came out was unbelievable.”

As Alex tells it, Roth simply refused to pay tribute to his brother, found the very idea offensive, for reasons he can’t comprehend. Alex was … displeased. “I’m from the street,” he says. “‘You talk to me like that, motherfucker, I’m gonna beat your fucking brains out. You got it?’ And I mean that. And that’s how it ended.” Alex remains baffled. “It’s just, my God. It’s like I didn’t know him anymore.

What a laugh. So either Alex beat his ass, or he did nothing.

Yes, very "street".

[Anthrax442]

It's nice to have all that cleared up. Interesting that Roth and him still talk after what went down. Would be curious to hear Roth's side of that, but I assume his no comment there was him trying to respect Alex and leave it alone.

Also explains why Alex hasn't played with anyone else, that he physically can't. That was something that always seemed like such a waste, but it totally makes sense that his body just broke down.

The bit about Ozzy is nuts, and I think the only time I've ever been glad that a reality show happened.

[FreddyFender]

Hearing Ozzy sing "Jump" would have been hilarious.

[Neil Diamond Dave]

Ozzy would have capped off a career that would have seen him work with such a small group of the greatest metal guitarists to have ever lived. Wow.

Ozzy's voice was so unique, and the music so powerful and beautiful - It might have worked! That's one of the reasons that I thought Ian Gillian with Black Sabbath worked too.

[Rocker4Real]

Does Alex still hold a grudge with Sammy over his book? That's the reason Sammy always gave as to why the VH bros wanted nothing more to do with him.

[Anthrax442]

Does Alex still hold a grudge with Sammy over his book? That's the reason Sammy always gave as to why the VH bros wanted nothing more to do with him.

Was it the book or him cutting them out of the Cabo Wabo Tequilla deal that he made all his money off of? (Or both)

[LitaStrauss]

Despite the blowup at rehearsal, he's still in touch with Dave:

Truth is, Alex got along with David Lee Roth better than anyone else in the band ever did. After Eddie’s death, Alex’s first call was to Roth, and even after that rehearsal blowup, they’re still in touch. Roth recently fired some shots at Wolfgang, Alex’s nephew, calling him “this fucking kid,” but Alex laughs that off. “To me, it’s a sign of respect,” he says, “that he actually thinks that Wolfie’s on the same level as the old master Dave, right? The other thing is that Wolf can easily take care of himself. It’s not a problem.”

For Alex, the end of the original band, the Roth-fronted one that went from backyard parties in Pasadena, California, to Hollywood clubs to the core of Eighties pop culture, was a tragedy. “It was the most disappointing thing I’d experienced in my life, the thing that seemed most wasteful and unjust,” he writes. “Until I lost my brother.”


So basically Roth leaving the band was the most disappointing thing in his life until Eddie died.

[soulonfire]

He's from the streets? Was he giving out chips and sodas to the kids to go with Nikki's sandwiches?

[eddie lee roth]

Can somebody transcribe off of the Rolling Stone site. It won’t let me read it without joining that BS of a website. Please and thank you in advance.

[SexxAtraxxion]

About "unreleased" music..

There’s tons of unreleased music in the Van Halen vaults, but very few finished songs, and even fewer with vocals. “They’re all little pieces,” he says. “A bunch of licks don’t make a song.” That said, there is a group of songs that Alex would like to find a way to release, though he warns it could take years. He’s reached out to OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, about the possibility of analyzing “the patterns of how Edward would have played something” so that they could help generate new guitar solos. And he has a singer in mind for this material. “Ideally, it’d be Robert Plant,” he says, though he hasn’t talked to the former Led Zeppelin frontman since 1993. “You’re gonna think I’m out of my fucking mind,” Alex adds. “But when conditions are right, things will manifest.”

[SterileEyes1]

Hearing Ozzy sing "Jump" would have been hilarious.

I’m imagining him screaming “LET’S GO FUCKING CRAZY” and frogleaping and throwing a bucket of water on the crowd during the Jump intro and…it actually kind of works!

[Bono Nettencourt]

About "unreleased" music..

There’s tons of unreleased music in the Van Halen vaults, but very few finished songs, and even fewer with vocals. “They’re all little pieces,” he says. “A bunch of licks don’t make a song.” That said, there is a group of songs that Alex would like to find a way to release, though he warns it could take years. He’s reached out to OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, about the possibility of analyzing “the patterns of how Edward would have played something” so that they could help generate new guitar solos. And he has a singer in mind for this material. “Ideally, it’d be Robert Plant,” he says, though he hasn’t talked to the former Led Zeppelin frontman since 1993. “You’re gonna think I’m out of my fucking mind,” Alex adds. “But when conditions are right, things will manifest.”

Thank you. As I've said all along, there is no "vault".

[Zabooka]

Hearing Ozzy sing "Jump" would have been hilarious.

This is close: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=F9oN6OHX7 ... xlbg%3D%3D

[the_man_incognito]

About "unreleased" music..

There’s tons of unreleased music in the Van Halen vaults, but very few finished songs, and even fewer with vocals. “They’re all little pieces,” he says. “A bunch of licks don’t make a song.” That said, there is a group of songs that Alex would like to find a way to release, though he warns it could take years. He’s reached out to OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, about the possibility of analyzing “the patterns of how Edward would have played something” so that they could help generate new guitar solos. And he has a singer in mind for this material. “Ideally, it’d be Robert Plant,” he says, though he hasn’t talked to the former Led Zeppelin frontman since 1993. “You’re gonna think I’m out of my fucking mind,” Alex adds. “But when conditions are right, things will manifest.”

I hope he don't go the AI route....If there are no new songs that can be created from old recordings, don't try to create them using AI...

[Neil Diamond Dave]

About "unreleased" music..

There’s tons of unreleased music in the Van Halen vaults, but very few finished songs, and even fewer with vocals. “They’re all little pieces,” he says. “A bunch of licks don’t make a song.” That said, there is a group of songs that Alex would like to find a way to release, though he warns it could take years. He’s reached out to OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, about the possibility of analyzing “the patterns of how Edward would have played something” so that they could help generate new guitar solos. And he has a singer in mind for this material. “Ideally, it’d be Robert Plant,” he says, though he hasn’t talked to the former Led Zeppelin frontman since 1993. “You’re gonna think I’m out of my fucking mind,” Alex adds. “But when conditions are right, things will manifest.”

Pretty cool. Robert Plant was probably their ideal singer from their teenage days. To be able to finally have Plant sing for them, even in an AI replication, would for sure have Alex falling all over himself - Himself a great Bonzo imitator, FWIW.

I'm in.

[Sleek]

Alex seems strangely cognizant of what they had, what they lost, and what the THING was.

Never heard it from anybody else in the VH camp as succinctly as this:

“The heart and the soul and the creativity and the magic was Dave, Ed, Mike, and me,”

[WentEast]

Hearing Ozzy sing "Jump" would have been hilarious.

This is close: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=F9oN6OHX7 ... xlbg%3D%3D

I thought that was pretty good.

[Chip Z'Hoy]

He’s at least as cutting in his book: “We had a lot of other singers over the years,” he writes, in his only acknowledgment of the Van Hagar era.

This is disappointing. I wasn't expecting him to fully unload on Sammy the way Sammy did on them in his book, but I don't know how you write a memoir about your brother and skip over five of the platinum albums you made together. But this is a much bigger middle finger to Sam--barely acknowledging him.

Also, is he counting everyone they jammed with among those singers? Otherwise, they had two other singers over the years.

Are we even going to get the "very disrespectful to Beck" VMA's story?

[WentEast]

Just saw on Audible … read by Alex his own self!

Re the earlier comment about Alex appreciating what they had and what they lost when Roth left, well, that’s sobriety speaking, or at least not being as drug/booze addled as Eddie was for so long.

But Al was right there bashing Roth after the MTV debacle.

I’ll be curious to hear Al’s take on Ed being so fucked up for so long. Did Al ever take Ed aside? Say it’s going too far? I guess we’ll find out.

[Nibbler]

Al was the biggest cunt in Van Halen, everyone knows that.