Alex Van Halen suggests in his upcoming memoir Brothers that Eddie Van Halen was haunted by the “flashes of genuine ingenuity” that catapulted Van Halen into the laborious rock stratosphere.

The drummer lately spoke to The New York Times in anticipation of Brothers, which comes out on Oct. 22. The ebook chronicles Alex and Eddie’s private {and professional} relationship, and it finds Alex sympathizing with his late brother and bandmate for his musical genius, which served as a double-edged sword.

“You can spend your whole life trying to make what happened before happen again,” Alex writes within the ebook. “I honestly believe that’s what cost my brother his life.”

Alex additionally mirrored on Eddie’s turbulent later years, which have been characterised by substance abuse, shambolic performances and head-scratching theories about the reason for his most cancers. He stated revisiting this conduct “really, really made me angry. I wanted to grab him by the throat and shake him and go, ‘What the [expletive] were you thinking, Ed?’ But it’s too late now.”

READ MORE: Alex Van Halen Says David Lee Roth Tanked EVH Tribute Tour

Alex Van Halen Says Van Halen Was ‘Getting Ready to Make Another Record’

Even when their lives have been in disarray, the Van Halen brothers consistently labored on new music, and the audio model of Brothers will characteristic the ultimate observe they labored on collectively, titled “Unfinished.” Alex advised the Times that Van Halen was “getting ready to make another record” following their remaining present in 2015, and he admired his brother’s tenacity up till his dying in October 2020 on the age of 65.

“I really wanted to emphasize the fact that Ed was brave up until the last minute,” Alex stated. “At the end of the day, he’s got nothing to be ashamed of. And I wish that he was here and that I could say, ‘Ed, let’s try it one more time.’ Because I know he had it in him.”