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Brothers

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INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERIn this intimate and open account—nothing like any rock-and-roll memoir you’ve ever read—Alex Van Halen shares his personal story of family, friendship, music and brotherly love in a remarkable tribute to his beloved brother and band mate.Told with acclaimed New Yorker writer Ariel Levy Brothers is seventy-year-old drummer Alex Van Halen’s love letter to his younger brother, Edward, (Maybe “Ed,” but never “Eddie”), written while still mourning his untimely death.In his rough yet sweet voice, Alex recounts the brothers’ childhood, first in the Netherlands and then in working class Pasadena, California, with an itinerant musician father and a very proper Indonesian-born mother—the kind of mom who admonished her boys to “always wear a suit” no matter how famous they became—a woman who was both proud and practical, nonchalant about taking a doggie bag from a star-studded dinner. He also shares tales of musical politics, infighting, and plenty of bad-boy behavior. But mostly his is a story of brotherhood, music, and enduring love."I was with him from day one,” Alex writes. “We shared the experience of coming to this country and figuring out how to fit in. We shared a record player, an 800 square foot house, a mom and dad, and a work ethic. Later, we shared the back of a tour bus, alcoholism, the experience of becoming successful, of becoming fathers and uncles, and of spending more hours in the studio than I’ve spent doing anything else in this life. We shared a depth of understanding that most people can only hope to achieve in a lifetime." There has never been an accurate account of them or the band, and Alex wants to set the record straight on Edward’s life and death. Brothers includes never-before-seen photos from the author’s private archives. Read more

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Harper (October 22, 2024)


Language ‏ : ‎ English


Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 240 pages


ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0063265702


ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 07


Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds


Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.89 x 9 inches


Best Sellers Rank: #3,537 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #5 in Rock Music (Books) #8 in Rock Band Biographies #36 in Actor & Entertainer Biographies


#5 in Rock Music (Books):


#8 in Rock Band Biographies:


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Top Amazon Reviews

    • Deep insights into one of rock's great bands.
I've read an awful lot of books about Van Halen; memoirs from Noel Monk, Dave Roth, Sammy Hagar, and Ted Templeman; interview collections, and even Renoff's impeccably researched book Van Halen Rising. I've even read quite a bit about them from other rock bios, like Lukather's and Ozzy's books. And part of what makes Brothers an interesting read is that Alex read all those books, too. Sometimes, he quotes them because he thinks they say what he's thinking better; sometimes, he quotes them just to give more context; and other times... well, he's disagreeing. But what's amazing about it is that, like a well-composed piece of music, he allows those dissenting voices space to make their statements. The voices he disagrees with most are the ones you don't hear at all. One specifically. He barely mentions Sammy by name. And if you've read Templeman's book, you kind of get it. Another part of what makes it interesting is that Alex is not nearly as well-represented in any of those books as Edward, Dave, or even Michael. While Ed was painfully shy, Alex is opening up here about his family life, and in particular about their parents, and their home life. Ed wasn't locked in a room with his guitar; it was barely a room, and there was no lock to be found. He speaks lovingly of both of their parents, about how their mother wanted more for them than just to be rock entertainers and to wear suits! But also about how critical and formative the lessons they learned from their father was in the kind of band they created and how they built it. Alex Van Halen covers their lives in deep detail from the beginning through the break up with Dave Roth, with a few bits and pieces about the death of Edward. I was expecting a tear-jerker, but the warmth and humor he has towards his brother, and sharing his stories from those early years, are a joy to read instead, and he doesn't dwell long on his brother's death, while making clear the profound impact it's had on him. If you're into Van Halen history, this is likely the most detailed, introspective and insightful look into the breakup with Dave Roth of any book, because he starts from the beginning and goes all the way to the end. Like I said above, he makes it clear that this is his perspective only, his opinion, his values; and yet by doing so, it lends an authority to his words here that others' perspectives lack. If you've read every other Van Halen book, you owe it to yourself to read this one for that perspective. If you haven't read any other Van Halen books, the brevity, detail and references to the other works make this book a great starting point. If you don't care about Van Halen, this book is very insightful into the music industry of that era and what it took to succeed in it. And if you don't care about any of those... why are you here? ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on October 24, 2024 by Rimbo
    • Worth The Read !!
“BROTHERS” By Alex Van Halen When I heard that Alex Van Halen was writing a book, I could not wait to read it, for many reasons, but of course the number one reason was because I missed Edward Van Halen so damn much and still to this day can’t accept that he’s gone. Come to find out, neither can Alex. And I know that I’m not alone in this feeling. To me, he wasn’t what some people, ( Ok, A lot of people), would call their hero, because I believe that the word hero should be reserved for the real, actual heroes in the world, and that it gets thrown around, mixed in and mixed up incorrectly and creates a false answer to the question, What Is A hero. A War Hero? Someone that’s saving lives… giving up their own life or at least putting themselves into the line of fire to save others… Absolutely – HERO! Sports Hero? Guitar Hero?? Well, I won’t continue this because it’s really a matter of opinion, but I would rather use the words sports legend rather than sports hero and a Guitar Player, no matter how great, is a rock star. My point is to say that Eddie Van Halen was a big part of my life. Musical inspiration of the highest caliper. He was born 10-1/2 years before me and passed away in 2020, just over 4 years ago at age 65. I had his influence in my life from age 13 until 55! Pretty significant I’d say. When Van Halen 1 was released in FEB. 1978, I was all of 13. A brand-new teenager in the 8th grade. I had started playing the drums, ( well, the snare drum first because I had to prove to my Musician Father that I was serious and could/would learn to read and study the material through lessons) when I was in 5th grade, which puts me at about 10 years old when I first held the drums sticks and started studying. I didn’t get an actual drum set until the 7th grade and the only reason that I got that drum set that my parents could never afford, was because my brother died and had left Mom some money. So, it was a sad/happy feeling to have received those drums under that circumstance, so you’d damn well better know that I took it all very seriously! I’ve always taken Music seriously and that’s why I refuse to tolerate others that don’t. NO, it’s NOT just a hobby! Dad was an actual Musician, a real life long Musician, so I had a teacher living in my house with me ( Ha Ha ). This was both beneficial and a huge pain in the butt! When I was 10, he was 58! Dad ruled with an iron fist! Two of them in fact. So, If I ever didn’t pay attention at a lesson, or had a question for dear ole Dad… “What do you mean you don’t understand what the teacher told you!? What the hell am I paying for? Why weren’t you paying attention! You don’t know the value of a dollar! Ahhhh… Fun Fun Fun - Practice, Practice, Practice - Love It, Love It, Love It. Even though my instrument of choice at the time was the drums and Eddie Van Halen is obviously a guitarist, Eddie wrote all the music. Not the lyrics, not the drum parts, but all the music. I loved their Music. It motivated me and it moved me in ways that I had never felt as a kid, or even a young adult. Growing up, I always heard the Drummer jokes – A band of 4 consists of 3 musicians and a drummer … Ha Ha … But upon reading this book by Alex, I learned that they treated each other as equals, and Alex had a say in the music as to the form, the structure, intros, fade in and outs, song choices, song order, and all those things because they respected each other and had a very tight brotherly bond through all the years together before they made it. And they stuck together through it all even after they made it. I was hoping that this book would be mostly about Eddie, even though I like to think that as far as Eddie Van Halen goes, I’ve read every interview in print and have seen every interview on video! The difference being that Alex was there and experienced everything that Ed did, plus, they were brothers, so I was hoping for a different take from another person that was there. I wanted a personal perspective from Eddie, I wanted to know what they talked about privately, and I wanted insight on how things really went down during the many events that they had during the Van Halen years, I wanted to be a fly on the wall when the two Brothers talked about “things and stuff”, not just what they told reporters and casual encounters with people that told stories. Well, I must report that after reading it all, if you were hoping for the same revelations for the same reasons I was, you’re going to be disappointed. But, the book itself isn’t disappointing at all, it’s a great read and I highly recommend it. And he does reveal certain aspects of their lives together as they toured the world, but maybe I just had my expectations set too high. Understand that from my point of view, my point of expectations, my perspective, the book could have been ten thousand pages and reveled everything they’ve ever said and done, and it still wouldn’t have satisfied me. But, keep in mind, I’m me, and you’re normal! Apparently, he started writing it in 2020 right after he lost his brother, though I didn’t hear about him writing a book until sometime in 2023, maybe late 2022. But it still seemed like an awful long time after finding out, so, maybe that’s why I expected so much. Anticipation does that to you. This is why surprises are so memorable and effective. No time to over think things. The book starts out about their Parents and their struggles. It details how shy Eddie was, how sensitive he was and how he always hated giving interviews. It then gets into their club days playing dive bars and backyard parties. It details how they met Michael Anthony and David Lee Roth and there are some interesting details about their club days and especially DLR that are fun to read. They were the best of friends and did everything together for the greater good, which was the band! Their commitment, their comradery. The 4 of them stuck together through all the drama that they would face. Alex doesn’t hold anything back, which is a strong point in the book when reading his words, as he details emotions that both he and Ed felt about certain people and certain happenings. He really hammers it out about when DLR decided that Van Halen was all about him, and that DLR was the main attraction of Van Halen and decided to leave to pursue a solo career. DLR didn’t even go to Eddie and Valeries Marriage Ceremony. The book doesn’t go into the Sammy Hagar years at all. It stops at their last record from the original line up which included David Lee Roth until 1984. Alex doesn’t say much about Ed’s condition and the years of sickness, other than a few mentions about how he’d always have a cigarette in his mouth, plus he’d have one burning in the ashtray, and he always had one in the strings of the headstock of his guitar – 3 at a time, all the time! He calls his brother self-destructive and blames his shyness at being called the greatest guitar player that ever lived and not knowing how to handle all that responsibility, much less having to constantly live up to it, thinking that he wasn’t worthy of his god given gift to play the guitar. Alex mentions how their mother died on the same day that his youngest son was born, and that Eddie died on the same day that his oldest son was born. Though it doesn’t state that they were all in the same years, I suspect he’s talking about the dates themselves, not the exact day AND year. The book is 227 pages and, it does give the details that a normal fan would want, so, other than my own over-expecting, it’s a great read and I highly recommend it if you grew up with Van Halen on the brain! ~~ Chris T. ~~ ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on November 4, 2024 by Chris in Providence R.I.
    • Honest, fun and compelling
Alex has a lot to say. Some you may already know, some you may not. Suffice to say, they were innovators who got mashed into the Hair Metal thing, even when I always saw VH as their own original hard rock band. Tired to the dour punk scene, two working class immigrants, a short egocentric rich kid and a chubby fun bass player created a new sound and band that was at once wild and serious. Van Halen was the only rock band where the cheerleaders adored. They weren't metal. They were talented musicians who loved to throw a party. This coupled with Alex's honestly about addiction, his brother's shyness, humbleness and their genius, creates a remarkable bio. Alex is extremely intelligent in his discussions about finding new sounds in the ether and his admiration for fellow artists like William Kurelek and Nirvana. His last brilliant prose about all these great artists that we lost made me think of the final end of Floyd's Welcome to the Machine. Where the machine cuts off and all you hear is some lane record launch party with goofy people giggling. Made me think that Van Halen were musicians first and had to steer around and sometimes into the frivality. I did wish he cut down on the exclamations. It reminded me of another excellent bio called Punk Ave. The writer did this !!! too much. But that's small stuff. Well done, Mr. Van Halen. (And the true reason about the infamous M&Ms controversy was epic) ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on January 10, 2025 by Jas

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