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Van Halen could have had new additions to their line-up over the years in Ozzy Osbourne, Chris Cornell, and Joe Satriani, Alex Van Halen reveals.
The former drummer and co-founder of the hard rock band is set to release Brothers, a memoir of his life with brother Eddie – who passed away in October 2020 due to complications from throat cancer – from childhood to 1984, when the band’s first line-up with David Lee Roth ended.
In an interview with Rolling Stone published today (October 15) promoting the book, Alex reveals more moments from the band’s storied career over the decades – for one, how Osbourne was originally tipped to front the band in 2001.
Alex and Eddie had met Ozzy with wife and manager Sharon Osbourne to lay out plans for him to record an album with the band. “When you get a dog, you don’t expect it to be a cat,” Alex tells Rolling Stone, noting that the brothers were open to the implications of the former Black Sabbath frontman joining their band. “When you get an Ozzy, you get Ozzy. Play the music, he’ll sing, and it’s gonna be great.”
However, Ozzy became entangled with MTV to launch The Osbournes, the reality show about the family that became a smash hit upon its debut in 2002, and couldn’t follow through with joining Van Halen.
“Yes, we were discussing it,” Osbourne tells Rolling Stone via email. “It is something that if it had come to fruition, would have been phenomenal. Eddie and Alex were great friends of mine for a very long time and it’s a regret of mine that we never got it together. The Osbournes got in the way of creating new music at that time, unfortunately.”
Alex also reveals in the interview that the brothers once jammed with Cornell and found they had something to work with. “Chris was in a very fragile part of his life, so to speak,” Alex notes.
“I got behind the drums, and he started playing bass. We played for 45 minutes. This motherfucker got so into it he started bleeding. I said, ‘This is the man you want.’ And then he died.”
Decades later, after the death of Eddie, Alex had reconvened with Roth to explore continuing the band in 2022, with early rehearsals taking place alongside musicians from Roth’s solo band.
The idea, Alex shares, was to rope in Satriani to take Eddie’s place on guitars, along with former bassist Michael Anthony, who hadn’t played with the band since 2004 since being replaced by Eddie’s then-teenage son Wolfgang Van Halen. The tour did not materialise, with Alex noting that physical problems he began facing around the time made him wonder if it was an “omen from above” to not follow through with the reunion plans.
He notes that after phone calls with Queen‘s Brian May, Alex brought to Roth the idea to pay tribute to Eddie during each gig. “I said, ‘Dave, at some point, we have to have a very overt — not a bowing — but an acknowledgment of Ed in the gig. If you look at how Queen does it, they show old footage.’” he recalls.
“And the moment I said we gotta acknowledge Ed, Dave fuckin’ popped a fuse.… The vitriol that came out was unbelievable.” This moment was “the thing that broke the camel’s back”, Alex adds. “‘You talk to me like that, motherfucker, I’m gonna beat your fucking brains out. You got it?'” he recalls how he felt towards Roth. “And I mean that. And that’s how it ended.”
“It’s just, my God. It’s like I didn’t know him anymore. I have nothing but the utmost respect for his work ethic and all that. But, Dave, you gotta work as a community, motherfucker. It’s not you alone anymore.”
Last month, Alex shared a snippet of ‘Unfinished’, the last song he recorded with his late brother. The track will be included in the audiobook of Brothers, which is set for release on October 24.
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Bowling For Soup and Frank Turner say they are certain they will eventually record music together.
The pop punk favourites and the singer songwriter will be touring together across Australia and the UK throughout May, June and July for a series of co headlining shows. They also came close to recording a track together for Bowling For Soup’s upcoming twelfth studio album.
Lead singer Jaret Reddick told ContactMusic.com: "We had actually talked about doing a track together for the new [BFS] album.
"I was working on songs during a really hectic period for Frank. We had planned this perfect day where he would stop by the studio. He did show up, but we ended up just spending time together and catching up instead, with no expectations.
"I feel like if we had tried to finish something just to release it before the tours, it probably would not have come out the way we wanted.
"I do believe that at some point down the line we are both sure we will create something together."
Frank and Jaret have already worked side by side in the studio before on the track Drunk As It Takes, which appeared on the BFS frontman’s country album.
Frank reflected: "There is something special about country songwriting that I think we both really admire.
"There is a real honesty and straightforwardness to it that I think both of us naturally bring into our own music, no matter what style we are working in."
Even though Frank is not featured on the new record, Jaret did share some insight into Bowling For Soup’s forthcoming album, which gained momentum after they recorded Holding Onto That Hate last summer while testing equipment for audio company SSL.
He explained: "They were looking for a band to come in and record a track to test out some new studio equipment. It ended up being our first recording as a three piece.
"I remember telling the guys, 'I think I am feeling inspired again. Let’s just go for it.'
"We set a target date, which ended up being February this year, and we followed through. A lot of the songwriting happened toward the end of last year and continued into January."
Jaret mentioned that he considers the 2009 album Sorry For Partying to be "the last truly great Bowling For Soup record," but he is very optimistic about what is coming next.
He said: "Some fans would probably argue and say, 'Actually, Lunch. Drunk. Love. is great as well'.
"But when I think about the last couple of albums, I sometimes feel like there were a few tracks I maybe should have left off.
"With this new record, there honestly is not a single weak track. All three of us feel like this could end up being the best Bowling For Soup album we have ever made, which feels wild to even say."
At first, the group considered putting the album out quickly, but they later decided to take more time with it.
He added: "To be honest, that idea does not really make sense since we will be touring with Frank and also heading out with Simple Plan.
"We are now thinking about releasing it in the fall or possibly even early next year. It is going to be worth the wait."
Full schedule for Bowling For Soup x Frank Turner Bowl My Bones UK Tour 2026:
June 25 Margate Dreamland
June 26 Southampton TK Maxx Presents Southampton Summer Sessions
June 27 Lincoln TK Maxx Presents Live at Lincoln Castle
June 29 Glasgow O2 Academy Glasgow
June 30 Halifax TK Maxx Presents Live at The Piece Hall
July 2 Scarborough TK Maxx Presents Scarborough Open Air Theatre
July 3 Llangollen TK Maxx Presents Live at Llangollen Pavillion
July 4 Cardiff TK Maxx Presents Depot Live at Cardiff Castle
July 5 St Austell Eden Sessions
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