HollywoodReporter.com reports:

Iconic rock band VAN HALEN are set to sign with Interscope Records, says a source familiar with the negotiations. The deal is expected to be finalized (this) week, marking the first time in 35 years that the band will not release music through Warner Music, its longtime label home.

It had been rumored - and reported - that the band was joining the Columbia Records roster. In fact, an insider tells The Hollywood Reporter that the contract for the Sony deal was drawn up and approved but hadn’t been signed when Universal Music stepped into the picture. The signing was a group effort involving UMG chairman and CEO Lucian Grainge, UMG International COO Max Hole, Interscope Geffen A&M; vice chairman Steve Berman and Interscope chairman Jimmy Iovine, who, says a source, "heard the band was available and wanted to work with them. It was decided at the 11th hour.” What came next was a series of meetings that presented the band with a global plan that included extensive marketing, merchandising, touring and, of course, recordings.

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The new, as yet untitled Van Halen album is completely finished and due to be released in early 2012. Furthermore, the Grammy Awards are hinting strongly that Van Halen will make their announcement at the Grammy Nominations Concert held in Los Angeles, CA on November 30th, aired live on CBS.

This recording will be Van Halen's first album with vocalist David Lee Roth in more than 25 years, and their first new music as a band in seven years.

A feature on Van Halen guitarist Eddie Van Halen makes the cover of Guitar Player Magazine's Holiday 2011 issue. The article, The House That Eddie Built: Inside Van Halen's Dream Machines, is in the issue on newsstands now.