In 2022, Riley Green notched his first No. 1 Billboard Country Airplay hit with the Thomas Rhett duet “Half of Me.” Now, as he prepares to release his third studio album, Don’t Mind If I Do, on Friday (Oct. 18) on Big Machine Label Group, he’s seeing a fresh career surge with another duet, the flirty “You Look Like You Love Me,” a collaboration with fellow Alabama native and singer-songwriter Ella Langley.

The song went viral earlier this year, but has proven to have staying power, currently at No. 10 on the Hot Country Songs chart and at No. 30 on the all-genre Hot 100.

“I didn’t know that song was going to be the hit that it has become,” Green tells Billboard. “I thought it was a cool song and the talking in the verses were a great nod of the cap to traditional country music. Both of us being from Alabama and growing up in similar areas, we have the same kind of twang and our voices just kind of mesh well together. I’ve been a fan of hers for a long time, so it’s been awesome seeing her success with this.”

That “nod to traditional country music” has been one key to the song’s success, as retro country sounds continue to make waves again in the format.

In a time when artists are putting out sprawling, pop-flavored albums, Green’s tightly-woven, 18-track project magnifies his devotion to country songwriting. Green wrote over half of the songs on the album, with a couple of his solo writes being among the standouts. That laser focus on writing comes naturally for Green, who has long taken inspiration from Georgia native and Country Music Hall of Famer Alan Jackson.

“Alan wrote a lot of his own songs. I’ve co-written with some great writers and have had some big hits from co-writes and I’ve never stopped co-writing, but there’s also something authentic about writing a song by yourself,” Green says. “I think you perform those songs a little different, maybe. I grew up listening to CDs and listening to ’em top to bottom, so I want to always make my albums an experience to listen to.”

One of Green’s solo writes, the poignant story song “Jesus Saves,” unfurls the tragic life events that led a military veteran to end up by the side of the road, holding up a ragged cardboard sign.

“Some of those things that the guy had been through in that story were things that if any of us had gone through it, maybe we’d be in the same position he was,” Green says. “I think that was a way to try to help people be a little more compassionate. And I just remember that with that song after I wrote it, when I listened back to it, I felt something from it. I was the same way when I wrote [2020 hit] ‘I Wish Grandpas Never Died’ and listened back for the first time. It choked me up a little bit. So, there’s always something special about songs that can do that. When fans feel that same way, it’s motivating and makes you want to continue to write those kinds of songs.”

On another solo write, he teams again with Langley for the love song “Don’t Mind If I Do.” From touring together to releasing multiple duets over the past few months, Green and Langley’s musical collaborations feel like a throwback to the 1970s, when artists like Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn, as well as George Jones and Tammy Wynette, released numerous collaborative albums together.

Asked if Green and Langley might consider such a project, Green says, “Well at this rate, I think we’re working on it. We’ve got two songs this year, but I think that’s probably part of the success we’ve had. I think people kind of long for that storybook type of thing, the George [Jones] and Tammy Wynette, or Johnny [Cash] and June [Carter] and all that. You haven’t seen it in a long time—maybe Tim [McGraw] and Faith [Hill] would be the closest thing we’ve seen and I don’t have a problem leaning into that at all. I think she writes great songs and I love her voice so I think if there’s something else that comes along that fits, we’ll probably do it.”

Given the two artists’ creative chemistry, both vocally and in performance, Green says he understands why some fans have speculated that their compatibility extends into the romantic realm.

“With ‘You Look Like You Love Me,’ it’s a girl picking up a guy in a bar song, so I can totally see where that led fans to think something and then we go with ‘Don’t Mind If I Do,’ which is a more heartfelt love song,” Green says. “But we’re just great friends and I’m really a fan of her music, so it’s awesome to have this success with her on both these songs.”

Beyond “Don’t Mind If I Do” and “Jesus Saves,” the new album also catalogs a range of emotions, encompassing heartbreak anthems (“That’s a Mistake”), smoldering romance songs (“Worst Way”) and an older song, “Alcohol of Fame,” a lighthearted nod to boozy nights out.

“I had that title, ‘Alcohol of Fame,’ and I remember thinking, ‘How has someone not already written this?’ You have to start looking it up to make sure it wasn’t already a song, because it was such an obvious thing, but it’s a fun song to play,” Green says. “I wrote it a couple of years ago and it’s nice to finally be recorded and included on an album.”

For the tour announcement for Green’s 2025 Damn Country Music Tour, he again eschewed modern standards—instead of announcing with a social media graphic or brief video, Green turned to a retro, cinematic treatment.

He gathered with his tourmates, among them Langley, Erik Dylan, Vincent Mason, Jake Worthington, Drake White and Lauren Watkins, to create a parody of the 1977 Burt Reynolds film Smokey and the Bandit, complete with Green’s character “Duckman” nodding to Reynolds’ iconic role, while Langley’s “Smoke Show” pays homage to Sally Field’s character Carrie. Together, Green and Langley evade the cops in a Pontiac Firebird Trans Am, while they use the CB radio to call out to the tour’s other opening acts, inviting them to join to head out on the road.

“Growing up, Reynolds was one of the coolest guys there was,” Green says. “I’ll never forget [in the movie] Happy Gilmore when a limousine pulled up and they said, ‘You must be Burt Reynolds or something.’ I feel like that’s how we all felt growing up. That was the most famous person around.”

“You Look Like You Love Me” has notched Green and Langley their first CMA Awards nomination in the musical event of the year category. At the Nov. 20 ceremony, Green is also thinking about who might take home entertainer of the year since he’s worked with so many of the nominees.

“There’s been so many people that have had such big careers. Luke Combs has been great and I toured with him last year. Lainey [Wilson] is having such a big moment and it’s really hard not to mention Morgan [Wallen], he’s had such a big moment. We went and played a show in the U.K. together [at BST Hyde Park in London] and it was the biggest country show they’ve had there. I don’t really need much more than that to kind of look his way.”

Outside of music, Green launched his Duck Blind bar in Nashville earlier this year, working with Nashville entrepreneur Steve Ford to open the space in the former Winner’s Bar and Grill location in Midtown, rather than adding another “star bar” on downtown Broadway.

“There’s nothing against anybody that’s got a bar on Broadway, I just never hung out on Broadway and I don’t know many artists that do. I’ve hung out in Midtown and everybody I’ve ever met—songwriters and other artists—has been in Midtown, so it’s cool for me to put my name on something that has been nostalgic for me. It’s also full circle for me to own a bar and have up-and-coming artists coming there to play, showcase their songs and hopefully get a start like I did.”

For the immediate future, don’t look for Green to launch too many other business ventures. “I don’t really need any more projects right now,” he says, before hedging his bet. “But I didn’t think I was going to be in the bar business this year either, so who knows?”

The highly anticipated 2024 Billboard Latin Music Awards ceremony is just around the corner.

Hosted by actors Carmen Villalobos and Danilo Carrera, the gala will celebrate the most outstanding talents in Latin music. This year, the awards show will air on Sunday, Oct. 20, and will be broadcast on Telemundo, along with digital coverage on multiple platforms, giving fans the chance to fully immerse themselves in the show — from the pre-show to the main ceremony — from anywhere.

The 31st edition of Premios Billboard will bring together an all-star lineup spanning a variety of genres and generations. Among the most-anticipated appearances are J Balvin, Chencho Corleone, Fuerza Regida, Gloria Trevi, Xavi, Grupo Niche, Pepe Aguilar, Prince Royce, Proyecto Uno, Yandel, Maria Becerra and Gabito Ballesteros, who will offer performances that promise to surprise and delight the global audience.

Here are the details of how and where to watch the 2024 Billboard Latin Music Awards and some highlights.

Pre-Show

Coverage begins at 8 p.m. ET and will be available on a wide range of digital platforms. Hosted by Aleyda Ortiz and Gabriel Coronel, viewers will be able to watch their favorite artists walk the blue carpet through the Telemundo app and social media channels including YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, X and the FAST Telemundo Al Día channel.

Awards Ceremony

Beginning at 9 p.m. ET, the awards ceremony will air on Telemundo and can be viewed simultaneously on the Telemundo app and the Peacock streaming service. For those outside the United States, the show will be available through Telemundo Internacional in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Highlights

Among the most anticipated moments of the night is Fuerza Regida performing its hits “Tu Name” and “Nel.” Grupo Niche will pay tribute to their legacy with a revamped version of their iconic “Cali Pachanguero,” while Pepe Aguilar will bring a medley of his greatest hits to the stage. Additionally, J Balvin will present a new arrangement of his recent hit “Cosa de Locos” in a promising performance.

The stage will also welcome music and television personalities as award presenters, including Alexa Martín, Alicia Machado, Camila Fernández, Kali Uchis, Mau y Ricky, Lupillo Rivera, and Yahritza y Su Esencia, who will join in the celebration to recognize the best in the industry.

Special Awards

Regional Mexican star Pepe Aguilar will receive the Billboard Hall of Fame Award, joining previous honorees Joan Sebastian, Marc Anthony and Vicente Fernandez. Colombian hitmaker J Balvin will be recognized with the Spirit of Hope Award, created more than 20 years ago in honor of Selena Quintanilla. While Spanish icon Alejandro Sanz will receive the Billboard Lifetime Achievement Award, which in the past has been given to artists such as Los Temerarios, Ricardo Arjona and Los Ángeles Azules. More details on the special awards can be found here.

About the Finalists

This year, the finalists is led by Karol G, who has 17 mentions in key categories such as Artist of the Year, Tour of the Year, and Global 200 Latin Artist of the Year. Bad Bunny and Peso Pluma follow closely behind with 15 mentions each. Other notable finalists include Feid, with 11 mentions, and regional Mexican stars Fuerza Regida and Junior H, both with 8 mentions, including Artist of the Year. See the full list of finalists here.

The Billboard Latin Music Awards recognize the impact of Latin music on the global scene, being the only awards based directly on the performance of albums, songs and artists on Billboard’s weekly charts. This year, awards will be presented in 49 categories, spanning the genres of Latin pop, tropical, Latin rhythm and regional Mexican. Produced by Telemundo in collaboration with Billboard and American Country Broadcast Inc., the 2024 Billboard Latin Music Awards not only celebrate artistic excellence, but also the growth and expansion of Latin music worldwide.

Kamala Harris‘ campaign is making sure there are no blank spaces in its efforts to win over young voters, especially where Taylor Swift fans are concerned.

On the day of the pop star’s first Eras Tour show back in the United States Friday (Oct. 18), the Democratic National Committee unveiled a themed Snapchat filter available only to Swifties in battleground states that allows users to pose under a digital banner reading, “In My Voting Era.”

The filter will also let voters choose from a number of topics Harris supports to complete the phrase, “Be fearless for …” in reference to the 14-time Grammy winner’s hit 2008 album Fearless. To fill in the blank, users can select from a menu containing “Democracy,” “Reproductive rights,” “Climate action” and more.

“This election will determine the future for young voters, from student loan debt relief and economic opportunity to whether they have fewer rights than their grandmothers did,” reads a statement from Rosemary Boeglin, DNC communications director, on the new Swiftie initiative. “Democrats are reaching out to young voters where they are, from concert venues to social media platforms, to make sure they have the resources they need to cast their ballot.”

The Snapchat filter is just one of several ways Harris’ campaign has capitalized on Swift’s emphatic endorsement of the Democratic ticket in September. The VP has also been selling friendship bracelets in the style of Swifties’ favorite Eras Tour accessory on her online store, and her running mate, Tim Walz, shouted out the “Anti-Hero” musician during the vice presidential debate in early October.

“I’m as surprised as anybody of this coalition that Kamala Harris has built, from Bernie Sanders to Dick Cheney to Taylor Swift,” the Minnesota governor said at the time. “They believe in a positive future of this country, and one where our politics can be better than it is.”

In addition to the Snapchat filter, the DNC is also rolling out Swift-themed billboards this week reading, “A new way forward … ready for it?” and “We’re in our Kamala era!” — starting with a mobile ad on a boat that will be stationed near Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, where the “Karma” musician is set to play three Eras Tour shows Oct. 18-20. Florida is right next door to Georgia, one of seven key swing states in the 2024 presidential election. The other battleground states are Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Michigan, Arizona, Wisconsin and Nevada.

The billboards also direct viewers to visit IWillVote.com to ensure they’re registered to vote by Oct. 26. Election Day is Nov. 5.

In her September endorsement of Harris, Swift emphasized the importance of voting. “Your research is all yours to do, and the choice is yours to make,” she wrote at the time. “I also want to say, especially to first time voters: Remember that in order to vote, you have to be registered! I also find it’s much easier to vote early.”

Time to drop the needle on the latest Executive Turntable, Billboard’s comprehensive(ish) compendium of promotions, hirings, exits and firings — and all things in between — across music.

Read on for good news and also check out Billboard‘s annual list of music’s highest compensated executives, plus our weekly interview series spotlighting a single executive, our helpful calendar of notable events, and have you ever wanted to look at tchotchkes inside the office of an executive while reading their in-depth answers to the most important questions facing the biz? From the Desk Of is probably your jam.

Capitol Records appointed Justin Grant as senior vice president and head of urban digital — putting him in charge of digital marketing efforts for R&B and hip-hop artists across Capitol, Motown and Priority Records. Grant spent a decade at Atlantic Records, rising from intern to vp of digital marketing & sports partnerships, where he worked with artists like Cardi B, Lil Uzi Vert, Kodak Black and NBA YoungBoy. Additionally, Capitol promoted Dante Smith to head of Motown digital. Smith will manage digital campaigns, direct-to-consumer efforts and brand development for the storied label. Since joining Capitol in 2020, Smith has collaborated with artists such as Ice Spice, Quavo, Lil Yachty and Kali Uchis. Grant will be based in NYC while Smith works out of Capitol’s Hollywood headquarters. In comments about both executives, Capitol Music Group chairman and CEO Tom March said Grant “knows what it takes to break artists” and is “hugely respected and exceptional at what he does,” while Smith has “delivered brilliant marketing campaigns for a number of years now for artists across the roster.”

Creative agency WMA appointed Sony Music veteran Mike O’Keefe as global vice president of creative, effective immediately. With three decades of experience under his belt, O’Keefe joins in a creative and strategic consultancy role and will help oversee bigger 360 creative projects at WMA. O’Keefe started his career in the early 1990s with Conspiracy Films and Oil Factory before joining Sony Music in 1995. At Sony, he worked on notable projects like Jamiroquai’s groundbreaking “Virtual Insanity” video and later became vp of creative at the label. He has collaborated with artists such as One Direction, Kasabian, Little Mix and Calvin Harris. Celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2023, WMA has delivered award-clinching campaigns for clients like Doja Cat, Billie Eilish, Dolly Parton and Spotify, among others. Founder and Global CEO Seb Weller expressed pride in WMA’s decade-long journey and said he was thrilled to work with O’Keefe again, while global vp Crystina Cinti called it an exciting to be “working with such a legend,” adding, “Mike’s credibility and experience in the industry is immense and he joins us at a significant time.”

Prescription Songs promoted Rachel Wein to senior director of A&R. Throughout her more than seven year with the company, Wein has played a key role in expanding Prescription’s Nashville roster to over 30 songwriters, artists, and producers, contributing to the company’s broader network of 150 acts. In her elevated role, Wein will continue managing roster artists and songwriters, including Morgan Nagler, known for co-writing “Kyoto” with Phoebe Bridgers, a Grammy-nominated hit. Under Wein’s leadership, Nagler has collaborated with mxmtoon, Astrid S, Maddie Zahm, and more. Wein has also been instrumental in developing emerging acts like JORDY, Greyson Chance, and Parson James, while overseeing top producers such as Sean Small (Keith Urban, Lainey Wilson) and Spellz (Wizkid, Burna Boy). Wein joined Prescription Songs in 2017 as the first hire in their Nashville office. Outside of music, Wein actively supports community initiatives, serving on leadership boards for Family Alliance in Music and Salt Lick Incubator. She also mentors LGBTQ+ youth through Youth Villages and was honored with the Marchetti Impact Award for her efforts with the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Katie Fagan, Prescription Songs’ head of A&R, praised Wein as an “integral part of our growth as a team here in Nashville and I’m looking forward to seeing her win big in the coming years,” while Wein expressed her excitement about continuing to work with the “simply unmatched” company.

Universal Music Group Nashville promoted Damon Moberly to the role of senior vp of promotion. Moberly has been with the label group for over 25 years, most recently serving as senior vp and head of the Mercury Nashville imprint’s radio promotion team. Moberly launched his country radio promotion career with work on the launch of Shania Twain’s Come On Over album and has since aided in the careers of artists including Jamey Johnson, Terri Clark, Chris Stapleton and The War and Treaty, in addition to working special projects including an Eagles single to country radio and the breakout hit “Man of Constant Sorrow” from the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack. –Jessica Nicholson

NASHVILLE NOTES: Concord named Anke Becker as vice president, information technology. Becker will be based in Concord’s London office and will report to Jonathan Eby, Concord senior vp, information services and technology. Becker previously spent a decade at BMG, where she led the creation of BMG’s proprietary client portal … Gabb, makers of kid-safe tech and the Gabb Music streaming service, hired Sidney Coury as its new digital operations coordinator. Earlier this year, Marco Vega joined the team as music coordinator. Coury previously worked at Olivia Management, while Vega has worked at Universal Music Publishing Group and Flood, Bumstead, McCready & McCarthy. The hires coincide with the opening of Gabb Music’s new office on Music Row in Nashville (1030 16^th Ave S), and Gabb HQ’s recent move to an expanded facility in Lehi, Utah.

CD Baby, a division of Downtown Music, appointed Jean Mischler as senior vp of marketing. Based in New York, Mischler will oversee marketing for CD Baby and its direct-to-creator services, including Soundrop and CD Baby Stages. Reporting to CD Baby president Molly Neuman, she’ll lead initiatives to help independent artists grow their fanbase and visibility globally. Mischler previously served as vp of growth marketing at Sofar Sounds, where she boosted ticket sales and revenue through social media, email and partnerships. Neuman noted Mischler’s nearly 20 years of experience, saying “her approach to marketing and deep understanding of the independent music landscape will be instrumental as we expand CD Baby’s reach to independent artists around the world.”

Believe introduced a new global music strategy led by Romain Vivien, its global head of music and president for Europe. The strategy focuses on enhancing artist development and creating more value for artists and labels at all career stages. As prez of Europe, Vivien oversees operations in France, the UK, and Germany — and collaborates with teams across 50 markets to design and implement strategies that accelerate Believe’s “Artist Services” business, supporting digital artists across 14+ countries. He’ll also work to strengthen Believe’s “Label & Artist Solutions” offering by aligning distribution, marketing, digital promotion and publishing services. Denis Ladegaillerie, Believe’s founder and CEO, praised Vivien’s leadership in scaling the company’s global presence. “He has been instrumental in building our music vision across the group,” he said. “Constantly leading his teams to innovate and push barriers to enable the emergence of new talents across hip-hop, pop, electronic music and more – all the while sustaining an impeccable delivery of premium services to our top artists and labels.”

RADIO, RADIO: Juan Navarro was promoted to chief revenue officer of Entravision Communications, replacing Karl Meyer, who was dismissed following challenges related to the loss of Meta’s Authorized Sales Partner program. Despite this setback, Entravision reported a 12% increase in net revenue for Q2 2024. Navarro brings over 20 years of media experience to his new role, having previously served as executive vp of local sales and integrated marketing solutions and as regional vp of integrated marketing solutions … iHeartMedia division and region president Tom McConnell is retiring after nearly 30 years with the company, leading to an executive restructure. Eddie Martiny, currently Houston region president, will become division president for the big four Texas markets (San Antonio, Dallas, Austin, Houston), as well as New Orleans and Baton Rouge. John Karpinski, evp of strategic partnerships, will take on the role of division president for markets in the Carolinas, St. Louis, Indianapolis, Memphis, and Kentucky.

JET Management added veteran manager Elena Awbrey to its team. Awbrey’s career began in Live Nation’s touring department before she transitioned to management, working with Motley Crüe and discovering Mannequin Pussy. She later managed Miguel at Atom Factory, guiding his Grammy-nominated albums. At Career Artist Management and Roc Nation, she developed artists like Chika, a 2020 XXL Freshman and Grammy-nominated Best New Artist. Awbrey, who also founded Moonshot Management, was named one of Billboard’s 2020 Changemakers. Founded in 2020 by John Scholz and Tyler Goldberg, JET’s roster features top-tier talent like Justice, Suki Waterhouse, LP Giobbi, Madeon, Sam Gellaitry, and Girl Talk. JET is also partnered with Firebird, a next-generation music company.

Granderson Des Rochers appointed Joey Seiler as senior counsel in its New Media practice. Seiler, a seasoned music licensing attorney, joins from Block, where he led TIDAL’s licensing team. With over a decade of experience, he has worked with labels, digital service providers and creatives to license music for innovative business models. His career includes roles at Empire and Loeb & Loeb, representing a range of clients from startups to multi-platinum artists.

ICYMI:

David Gray was appointed U.K. managing director of Universal Music Publishing Group, succeeding Mike McCormack, who is stepping down from the role after almost nine years in charge to launch a new consultancy and joint venture with UMPG … and Warner Music Japan appointed longtime Universal Music executive Takeshi Okada as the label’s new president and CEO. [KEEP READING]

Last Week’s Turntable: Sphere Sheds CFO

Alex Van Halen hopes that those coming to his new memoir, Brothers, for a tell-all will be disappointed.

“It’s not about the dirt,” Van Halen, older brother and bandmate of the late Eddie Van Halen, tells Billboard. “If I start throwing dirt, it’ll never end. I think some people would like that; that’s how projects are sold nowadays. I think it divides the audience, and we’re not here to divide. I think the tone of the book and how I want the book to be perceived is more on a spiritual and creative level. That’s why there’s very little, or any, dirt in there.

“The majority of things that were written about Ed were third party,” he continues. “They weren’t really there. I’m not degrading any of it, but it’s not accurate. I really felt like a lot of the stuff that was out there was incorrect, and it didn’t do justice to the more sensitive side of Ed. So before I die I would like to at least partially set the record straight.”

Brothers, publishing Oct. 22 and written with New Yorker staff writer Ariel Levy, acknowledges the sex and drugs and rock n’ roll. But as the title indicates it’s primarily a chronicle of the drummer’s relationship with his guitar hero brother, who passed way during Oct. 2020 at the age of 65 after a long battle with cancer. The tome is undeniably emotional, with some passages written directly to his late brother. Van Halen acknowledges that the process “really took its toll on me.”

“You have to remember we were together for 65 years; that’s a lifetime, if not more,” explains Van Halen, who was born in Amsterdam and came to the United States with his family in 1962, eventually settling in Pasadena, Calif., where the Van Halen band was formed in 1974. “(Brothers) not only forced me to look at everything Ed and I had done in our lifetime, but also — and I should thank Ed for this — it forced me to look at me. What are my motivations? Why am I really doing this? Who does anybody do this? It took me a lot of places…very heavy.”

Throughout Brothers’ 231 pages, Van Halen discloses the tight bond between him and Eddie, personally and musically — and presents the connection between those two as one and the same thing. Van Halen offers a detailed account of the entire family dynamics, too, from the influence of their father, Jan, a jazz musician, and their more strict Dutch East Indies-born mother Eugenia, and the impact of immigrating to America and being treated as outsiders. The passion for music came early and was a constant, of course, and one can read in Brothers a kind of mission on Van Halen’s part to offer a more expansive and sophisticated view of his brother’s talents.

“There was more going on than most people recognize or realize, and it’s not our job to ‘teach’ people,” explains Van Halen, who also makes use in the book of a variety of other sources, including published interviews with his brother, books by original frontman David Lee Roth and producer Ted Templeman, and philosophers such as Friedrich Nietzsche. The brothers, who first learned to play piano, actually started out on each other’s instruments before switching as teenagers. “When Ed picked (the guitar) up he could make it sing. It was amazing. That sound, that intonation was phenomenal. You couldn’t express it in words. Everybody gets blinded by the fact Ed was such a phenomenal player (that) you’re not even understanding who the human being was. Maybe people don’t care, but I care. He’s my brother.”

Brothers of a Band

Writing about Van Halen the rock band in Brothers, Van Halen says that “me, Ed and Dave were very subversive in the way we looked at music and the political system and the way we looked at people in general…The band was dysfunctional. It was completely running on three wheels, if you will. I think Ed was quoted as saying ‘but we always played well,’ and that was ultimately what kept it together until it was no longer together. It was a very sad moment when that whole thing fell apart.” Van Halen, in fact, writes in Brothers that Van Halen’s 1985 split with Roth “was the most disappointing thing I’d experienced in my life, the thing that seemed the most wasteful and unjust. Until I lost my brother.”

Despite the acknowledged rancor with Roth over the years – and blaming Roth for the failure of a planned Eddie Van Halen tribute tour — Van Halen maintains that “I’m not angry at all with Dave. He was one of the three main components of the band. At the time we didn’t recognize it because we were constantly battling things out. That’s why I mentioned (in the book) that the first person I called when Ed died was Dave because I felt like I owed him that, to the work we had done together and the fact that our families knew each other and the fact that everybody was sort of on the same level, if you will, when we first started. I don’t know where things went wrong…I have nothing but the utmost respect for Dave and his work ethic. I just think some of his choices were really strange to me, but that’s not my job to figure it out.”

Other than his brother’s death, Van Halen chose to stop the story with the Roth split, leaving out subsequent runs with Sammy Hagar and Gary Cherone and even the reunion with Roth that started in 2007. (Roth and Hagar both wrote memoirs after their respective tenures with the band.) Van Halen cites “limitations to how big the book could be” but also says it the scope of the narrative made sense to him.

“What happened after Dave left is not the same band,” Van Halen explains. “I’m not saying it was better or worse or any of that. The fact is Ed and I did our best work whenever we played. We always gave it our best shot. But the magic was in the first years, when we didn’t know what we were doing, when we were willing to try anything.” Not surprisingly, Van Halen was not responsive, either, when Hagar and bassist Michael Anthony reached out about him taking part in some way in their Best of All Worlds tour celebrating Van Halen.

“I’m not interested,” he says. “They’re not doing the band justice. They can do what they want to do. That’s not my business.”

Everybody Wants Some

Van Halen does add, however, that his auction of drum equipment and other items in June “was misinterpreted” and simply clearing out a warehouse of gear that wasn’t being used.

“I’m not quitting. I don’t know where that came from,” Van Halen says. “I’ll die with sticks in my hand.” Spinal issues he’s been battling for decades are still present, he adds, including a recent injury during a trip to a shooting range in 2022. “But with modern technology we have now I should be OK in about five years,” he says.

Despite rumors of what the Van Halens were up to between the last tour with Roth (in 2015) and Eddie’s death, Alex maintains there was little to report. “We never really talked about it,” he says. “We prefer that things just happen by some kind of magic. The issue was Ed had been dealing with cancer for quite a number of years, and some of the stuff that he was doing out of the normal procedures, if you will, had side effects. Some of the stuff that was being said about Ed was completely wrong, and it was painful…. He was fighting cancer. It’s as simple as that.”

Fans are certainly excited about the presence of a new instrumental track, “Unfinished,” that’s part of the audio version of Brothers. It hails from a trove of ideas the brothers recorded at Eddie’s 5150 studio and stashed away, and Alex anticipates releasing more of that material “when it feels right.”

“I’m not in a hurry,” he says. “I do have a certain obligation to keep it to Ed’s standards. He was meticulous and he was a pain in the ass…and I need to have access to the right takes, ’cause not every day did we play at our best. But we always had the tape recorders running. We didn’t go in the studio like, ‘Yeah, we’re gonna make a record from beginning to end.’ We had little pieces here, little pieces there, you put ’em away until the time comes and you go, ‘Hey, I think I like that piece…’ and then go back to it and build something from there.” He told Rolling Stone that he’s approached OpenAI about using its technology to help turn some of the material into songs.

“I know people want to hear it,” Van Halen adds, before cautioning that, “the other side of the coin is this doesn’t sound like Van Halen. You’re damned if you do, damned if you don’t.” He says that for future releases he’s also “looking forward to getting some people involved…other musicians and producers. You have to have the right team, because not everybody can do everything. So we’ll see.”

For the time being Van Halen is focused on promoting Brothers, which he’d also like to turn into a movie — though he notes that, “I learned a long time ago not to put your hope in things that don’t exist yet. I know people who would be willing to participate, but it’s a very complex fabric of things that need to happen.” Meanwhile Van Halen has three book events lined up — signings at Barnes & Noble in New York on Oct. 21 and at Books & Greetings in Northvale, N.J., the following day, and a live conversation on Oct. 24 at the Frost Auditorium in Culver City, Calif.

“People can ask whatever they like — that’s their prerogative,” Van Halen says. “It’s my prerogative to answer. Or not answer.”

One thing Van Halen will make clear, however, is that his brother is still a strong presence in his life.

“He’s not gone for me,” Van Halen says, citing the “island voodoo” of their mother’s upbringing and the Spooky Action at a Distance concept of quantum physics. “He’s still there. His spirit’s here, and it’s not something you can grab or touch. There’s something between us that’s just connected on a level that is beyond explanation. Scientists will tell you that you cannot destroy energy, it just takes different shapes, and that’s kind of how it is for me with Ed.

“I really had a tough time when Ed passed — full of rage, for a number of reasons. I heard this thing by Billy Bob Thornton; he just said basically when his brother died he didn’t know how to deal with it, and he basically said that you’re not running away from the fact that you’re not together anymore. You accept it for what it is and then the pain will slowly diminish, but it’ll never go away. That’s why i said (in the book), ‘When I see you again, I’m gonna kick yo’ ass…’”