In a new, in-depth conversation with Gastão Moreira of Brazil’s “Kazagastão,” legendary drummer Alex Van Halen finally shed light on the highly speculated project he has been developing alongside Toto guitarist Steve Lukather.
The focal point of the interview was the confirmation that the upcoming record will feature previously unreleased, unfinished recordings that Alex created with his late brother, the iconic Eddie Van Halen.
Setting the record straight on the quality and intention behind the release, Alex stated (as transcribed by Blabbermouth):
“Ed [late Van Halen guitarist and Alex‘s brother, Eddie Van Halen] and I had a lot of stuff that we made, that we made musically that we never let go. Many people have asked, what about releasing unreleased stuff? Well, we’re not gonna release it in its embryonic form because it wouldn’t make any sense. But I’ve been fortunate enough to have Steve Lukather, who was a good friend of Ed‘s, and we’re working on putting a record together, but it has to be of the quality and the level of where we left it. Not just to say, ‘Hey, here’s some music that we made. If you like it, that’s great.’ No. It has to be the quality that we expect.”
When asked how Lukather fits into the puzzle of completing these archival tracks, Alex praised the guitarist’s musical intuition and ability to seamlessly tie the elements together:
“I call Lukather Luke affectionately. He is the connective tissue. Luke can play anything… But because of this talent that kind of blends in with everything, he doesn’t get the recognition that I think he deserves. And I may be wrong. Maybe he is recognized the world over. He should be, because I can’t play guitar. And I can work things out on a keyboard, but it takes me too long to figure it out. And by that time, the moment is gone. I went to Steve‘s house several times and we played a piece of music and he goes, ‘Yeah, I got it. That’s it. That’s all we need.’ Then he can do all the connective tissues. He knows where to put the solo, as far as structure and organ and structure and an organization. I have my opinions and he has his, and they are just opinions. So he can facilitate things that would’ve taken me 10 times as long. And I love the guy. We’ve known him for years.”
Alex also confirmed that the foundation of these songs was actually intended for the next Van Halen studio album before Eddie‘s passing. The core instrumentation—featuring Eddie‘s son, Wolfgang Van Halen, on bass—is largely intact:
“Well, these are recordings that were going to be the next [Van Halen] record, and that were stopped because [Ed] didn’t live that long… The drums are already recorded. The drums, the guitar and the bass are already in there. What we didn’t have is a vocalist, and obviously the subtleties and the glue — we call it the glue or the spackle…”
“Most of ’em is Wolf [Wolfgang Van Halen, Eddie‘s son and former Van Halen bassist], because these are recordings that were made ready for the next record,” he told when asked who is playing the bass.
With the instrumental tracks largely secured, the massive hurdle remains finding the right singer. Alex revealed that they had initially approached Free and Bad Company legend Paul Rodgers, but health and vocal limitations prevented it from happening:
“We originally had plans to — I think I can probably say without talking outta school, one of the singers who we really, really, really wanted to use for the new stuff was Paul Rodgers, and he has a relationship with Luke and we grew up on Free and all that, but [Paul] can’t do it anymore. And it was very difficult for him to bring himself to say, ‘No, I can’t. Count me out.’ I respect that. I’m saddened and disappointed, but you know, that’s life… He knows he can’t do it — which I think is better than saying, ‘Yeah, I can do it,’ and then not be able to do it.”
The search for the right frontman continues. When the interviewer suggested Led Zeppelin‘s Robert Plant, Alex was open to the idea but noted the importance of finding someone from their specific era who understands the musical context.
“Yeah. Luke and I are looking for somebody right now”
“Music is not so much about music as it is about people having a shared experience. I’m 72. We gotta find somebody in that age group who was exposed to the same musical experience that we have. Otherwise, it doesn’t have the depth.”
“I can’t remember what the expression is, but there’s a difference between knowledge and wisdom. Knowledge is knowing that a cucumber is a vegetable. Wisdom is knowing where to put it. [Laughs]”
“Robert Plant is brilliant. But if it’s meant to be, it’s meant to be. And he’s out touring, doing his thing. He would’ve been an ideal choice. But nothing is etched in stone. And I really believe that the universe will work something out to where this project will come out the best it can possibly be. We have no other intent other than to have it come to fruition.”
Alex also briefly touched on “Unfinished“, the final piece of music he wrote with Eddie, which was recently released alongside his audiobook, “Brothers“:
“The feedback for that song was incredible. But there was no vocals on it and it was not completed. And that was the whole point… The lineage of how my brother and I did things was some of the stuff that our dad taught us were very deeply rooted, and one of his favorite songs was the ‘Unfinished’ by Schubert. And so this song was unfinished, so I figured we’d call it ‘Unfinished’ and then that’s it. We weren’t even aware that we were going to make this public at any point. This is just Ed and I working at the studio. Unbridled, unpressured, un-anything. And there are a couple of places, if you heard, where the needle goes right through the machine. [Laughs] I hope we didn’t blow up any speakers.”
This new interview arrives almost exactly a year after initial rumors of the collaboration first surfaced. In March 2025, the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf reported that Alex and Lukather were working together. In that initial report, Alex praised his collaborator:
“Ed and Steve Lukather were very good friends and they often worked together. There is no one who can do this process with me as well as he can.”
Lukather, seemingly caught off guard by the public reveal at the time, responded in the same article:
“Did Alex say that? Oh, in that case the news is true. Ed, Alex and I were very close for years. It is true that we worked on it together.”
However, to quell rampant speculation that he would be replacing Eddie Van Halen‘s guitar parts, Lukather took to Instagram on March 15, 2025, to firmly clarify his exact role in the project as more of a co-producer and organizer:
“I will NOT EVER play a guitar note on a VH song ever!.”
“Al asked me to help him go thru a ton of unfinished recordings of Al and Ed writing and recording that never saw the light of day. As of now thats all I got.”
“The fact that ANYONE would think for even a second that I would play anything on this is ridiculous. I have too much love and respect for that and … I play nothing like Ed.. more as a co-producer or something. I am honored Al would ask me though.”
“Lets see …”
