Alex Van Halen has confirmed that he’s working on a new album with the help of Toto guitarist Steve Lukather.
The Van Halen drummer was the guest on the most recent episode of the podcast Metal Sticks, hosted by Modern Drummer publisher David Frangioni and former Iron Maiden drummer Nicko McBrain.
At the beginning of the podcast, Alex disclosed, “I’m getting ready to do this record with Lukather and a couple of other people. It should be exciting.”
He added of the studio sessions, “There’s a lot to be said for spontaneity. That’s how Ed and I did a lot of things together in the studio. He would just play, and we would just take snippets of it, and then you elaborate on little ideas and make a song out of it.”
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It is unclear if the new material will be released as a Van Halen album, as it was previously reported that Lukather was helping Alex put together new songs from unreleased material that the drummer recorded with his late brother, Eddie Van Halen.
Back in March, the Dutch newspaper De Telegraf (as reported by Guitar World) quoted Alex as saying, “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.”
The drummer was referring to the close bond between Eddie and Lukather, who helped Eddie create the guitar-work on Michael Jackson’s “Beat It.” Eddie also played bass on Lukather’s debut solo album.
At the time, Lukather was contacted by De Telegraf, and offered them this response: “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.”
The Toto guitarist then issued a clarification on Instagram, writing “For the record: Ever since Alex Van Halen dropped some we were gonna work together I think there is a huge misunderstanding. 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 that’s all I got.”
If the music is released as a new Van Halen album, it would be the follow-up to 2012’s A Different Kind of Truth, and the band’s 13th studio LP overall.
One big question regarding any potential new Van Halen album would be the vocals. Alex has had a contentious relationship with Sammy Hagar over the past few years, while speaking highly of David Lee Roth. However, Roth has been indirectly blamed for nixing a potential tribute tour in honor of Eddie.
Alex Van Halen recently announced a new Van Halen anthology book, expected to be released sometime in 2026. He previously released the memoir Brothers (order here), reflecting on his life and career with Eddie Van Halen.
