DREAM THEATER Drummer MIKE PORTNOY Breaks Down And Performs VAN HALEN's "I'm The One" In Tribute To ALEX VAN HALEN

May 17, 2024, 7 months ago

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DREAM THEATER Drummer MIKE PORTNOY Breaks Down And Performs VAN HALEN's "I'm The One" In Tribute To ALEX VAN HALEN

During Modern Drummer's Tribute to Alex Van Halen, Live from Ironshore Studios, at the beginning of the year, Dream Theater drummer Mike Portnoy discussed the origins of Alex's famous shuffle groove that appears in several VH songs. Enjoy this clip of Mike playing "I'm The One" from Van Halen's debut album.

Alex Van Halen will release his autobiography, Brothers, on October 22 via HarperCollins Publishers. The book cover has been revealed, and can be seen below.

According to Rolling Stone, the book’s editor, Sara Nelson of HarperCollins, calls the memoir “a chronicle of family and talent and the passion to create… the definitive take on Edward Van Halen’s life and death from the one who knew and loved him best.”

The Van Halen Store has revealed exclusive details about the upcoming book.

In 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 bandmate.

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 famous, 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 archive.

Enter your email address in the field here to be notified when the Van Halen Store starts taking orders, closer to the October 22 release date. Fans who order direct from Van Halen Store will receive an exclusive collectible.


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