Alex Van Halen will release the last-ever song he worked on with Eddie Van Halen in the audiobook version of his upcoming memoir.
Brothers is set to arrive on Oct. 22, with the spoken-word edition voiced by the drummer himself. The track, titled simply “Unfinished,” will feature within his narrative.
Publishers HarperCollins confirmed that “Unfinished” is “the last piece of music they wrote together” before Eddie’s death at age 65 in 2020.
READ MORE: Sammy Hagar Wishes He’d Tried Harder to Reconnect With Eddie Van Halen
The memoir appears to be the final work of Alex Van Halen’s career. The 70-year-old recently saddened former bandmate Sammy Hagar by auctioning what appeared to be his complete collection of drums and equipment.
Hagar also said he’d tried to talk to Van Halen multiple times about taking part in the current Best Of All Worlds tribute tour, but that no contact had ever been established.
“We reached out to him a dozen times… in every way,” he told UCR. “Email, text message, phone call, message on the machine… No response. I mean, we made every offer to get together or to just talk or to have breakfast, lunch or dinner. Go to the studio and play. Come to my house or I’ll come to your house. Go ride horses, go sit on the beach. What do you want to do? Let’s just do something. Let’s get together. And nothing.”
Alex Van Halen Vows to Kick Eddie’s Ass
HarperCollins described Brothers as “nothing like any rock ’n’ roll memoir you’ve ever read,” and Van Halen’s “personal story of family, friendship, music and brotherly love… [It’s his] love letter to his younger brother Edward (maybe ‘Ed’ but never ‘Eddie’), written while still mourning his untimely death.”
Van Halen himself said: “This is my tribute to my brother; my way of saying goodbye. Ed, I love you and miss you. When I see you again, I’m gonna kick your ass!”
Brothers is available to pre-order in standard and audiobook editions.
Van Halen Lineup Changes
Three different singers and two different bassists joined the Van Halen brothers over the years.