ALEX VAN HALEN On EDDIE VAN HALEN's Death: It Was 'A Very Uneventful Ending To An Eventful Life'

As part of the latest season of his deeply personal exploration of grief in the CNN Audio podcast "All There Is With Anderson Cooper", Anderson Cooper spoke to VAN HALEN drummer Alex Van Halen about the death of Alex's brother, legendary VAN HALEN guitarist Eddie Van Halen. Alex said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I'm grieving all the time. I'm not running from it, because that doesn't solve the problem. At times, it can be overwhelming, and the more the more I dwell on it, the more complicated it becomes. When I'm alone and I put on a piece of music and I hear [Ed] play, I break down — that's it — uncontrollably. But knowing what I know about the human body, you just let it happen. Otherwise it will happen in the line at the grocery store. And that wouldn't look so good."

Alex went on to say that he was caught off guard by his brother's passing. "None of us really thought he was gonna die," he explained. "He'd always bounced back. He had the most incredible DNA that I've ever seen in anybody. He could do more and more drugs than anybody and still wake up the next day and perform. I don't think anybody really thought he was gonna die. So when he passed, it was really a shock."

Asked if Eddie knew how close to the end he was during the final days of his life , Alex said: "I don't think he knew. Being human, you think you're gonna go on one more day, one more day. You keep going forward. But then one day you don't. So up to the very end, we were still making music and we talked about, what are we gonna do next year? But it was clear that he was going downhill."

According to Alex, Eddie's deteriorating health was complicated further by the fact that most of the world was embroiled in COVID-19 lockdowns.

"It was difficult because his immune system was down, so the last thing he needed was to get infected by anything," the drummer explained. "So there was always a distance between us at his house. We had to watch him from outside in the driveway from the window."

When Cooper noted that Alex couldn't sit by Eddie's bedside or hold him, the drummer said: "No, no, no. The last time we did that was when I took him to Switzerland to have some treatment by some unbelievable doctors. But he was in a lot of pain most of the time. Most people have no idea what kind of pain he was in — physical, emotional, mental, you name it. Then he started to lose the function of his extremities. It all compounded, and every day it was something, some other part that was not functioning anymore."

Alex confirmed that Eddie battled a brain tumor and stage four lung cancer before he passed away. "Yes," he said. "And they did something called a Gamma Knife operation where they cut the cancer out, which was successful, but in the process, it caused a swelling in his brain. So they put him on steroids. And typical… [Laughs] I'm only laughing about it because even in a life-and-death situation, the decision was, 'Well, two's good. Twenty must be better.' So he took handfuls of steroids and it made him Superman temporarily. But we got him off to Switzerland to get him off that stuff."

Reflecting on Eddie's final days, Alex said: "He had a massive stroke. We were in the room with him when he actually took his last breath. We just sat there. Everybody was in their own headspace. All I know is that when he stopped breathing, I didn't hear anything. I didn't see anything. There were no bells. There were no angels. It stopped. And then the room was empty. That was it. And then they pulled the plug because he was on a ventilator. And that was it. And because of COVID and the restrictions and the rules, they immediately carted the body off and that was it. Then we didn't see him anymore. [It was] a very uneventful ending to an eventful life. But you know what? He fought it till the very end. I wanna think of Ed's life in terms of that he never gave up."

Alex remains philosophical about Eddie's legacy and contribution to the music world, even if he wishes that he had his brother for at least a decade longer.

"We travel through time or we travel through existence, if you will, and you come and then you go," Alex said. "It's part of the natural order of things. I think the real problem, at least from my perceptual standpoint, is that when it happens out of what is the norm, which is a full 75- or 80-year-life, and to have it be shorter than that, it doesn't make sense.

"Am I angry at him? Yeah, there were times when I'd have a jealous scream. 'Ed, what the fuck is wrong with you? What are you doing? Ed, if you stop doing all them damn drugs…' [Laughs] 'You can't do this to your body and expect to live a full life.' Had he stopped, he might still be here. The emotional part of me just says, 'Ed, you're not done yet. It'd be nice to have you hanging around.' My kids don't have an uncle anymore. Your son doesn't have a father. I don't have a brother.

"Ed's whole life was searching for something," Alex added. "I don't know what it was, 'cause musically we could play anything. Ed, come on. Maybe you could have been here a little longer. But then you realize, I have no control over that. And then maybe it's not my place to tell him to be here longer. Maybe he knows intuitively that, 'This is it. I'm done. I'm leaving.' He was never satisfied. There was always that itch to do something else. So I don't know. I'm still grappling with some of those things because, to me, it doesn't make any sense."

Alex's memoir, "Brothers", which has been described as a love letter to his younger brother, while still mourning Eddie Van Halen's untimely death, came out in late October.

Alex is the co-founder of VAN HALEN and its original drummer. Born in Amsterdam and trained as a classical pianist, he graduated from Pasadena High School.

In "Brothers", Alex recounts his and Ed's childhood in an 800-square foot house in Pasadena, with an itinerant musician father and proper Indonesian-born mother — how they arrived in the U.S. from the Netherlands and struggled to fit in. He also shares stories of musical politics, infighting and bad-boy behavior. The book includes never-before-seen photos from the author's private archives, as he sets the record straight on his brother's life and death in the first-ever accurate account of his family and the band.

Alex and Eddie formed a band called MAMMOTH in Pasadena, California in 1972, then renamed it VAN HALEN when singer David Lee Roth joined the group and, later, bassist Michael Anthony.

VAN HALEN was one of the biggest rock bands in the country in the 1980s, with hits like "Runnin' With The Devil", "Dance The Night Away", "Hot For Teacher", "Panama" and "Jump". The group, which later featured Sammy Hagar on vocals, was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 2007.

The Van Halen family moved to Pasadena after emigrating to the U.S. from the Netherlands in 1962.

VAN HALEN was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 2007.

According to Modern Drummer, Alex was instrumental to VAN HALEN's electrifying, dramatic sound, leading the rhythm section on standout hits like "Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love", "Unchained" and "Panama". His double-bass pedal work throughout "Hot For Teacher" was deeply influential, combining technical prowess with a restless, thoroughly original drum composition.

Eddie passed away in October 2020 at St. John's Hospital in Santa Monica, California. Alex was by his side, as was Eddie's son, Wolfgang.