Alex Van Halen's given his first interview since the death of his brother Eddie Van Halen, talking to Rolling Stone ahead of the Oct. 22 release of his memoir, Brothers.
Alex says looking at it now he can't imagine touring without Eddie. As for former frontman Sammy Hagar playing Van Halen songs on tour with guitarist Joe Satriani, the mag says Alex wouldn't even say Sammy's name.
"The heart and the soul and the creativity and the magic was Dave, Ed, Mike (Anthony), and me," he says. Rolling Stone notes the only mention of the Van Hagar years in the book was Alex writing, "We had a lot of other singers over the years."
Also in the article, Alex tells Rolling Stone that in 2001 they almost got Ozzy Osbourne to front the band, but it didn't happen because he was in negotiations for the MTV reality show The Osbournes.
"He was there this morning," he says. "He's fine. Wherever he is — he's fine."