ALEX VAN HALEN Confirms A New Album In The Works With TOTO Guitarist STEVE LUKATHER

Alex Van Halen has revealed that he is currently working on a new album with Toto guitarist Steve Lukather, fueling speculation about the future of unreleased Van Halen music. Or at least maybe a new band?

The legendary drummer and Van Halen co-founder appeared on the Metal Sticks podcast hosted by Iron Maiden drummer Nicko McBrain, where he discussed his recent and ongoing musical projects. "I'm getting ready to do this record with Lukather and a couple of other people," Alex said. "It should be exciting."

While Van Halen did not clarify whether the project is intended to be a Van Halen album or a separate collaboration, the announcement immediately reignited interest in the band's extensive archive of unreleased material. Van Halen have not issued a studio album since 2012's A Different Kind Of Truth and have remained inactive since the death of Eddie Van Halen in 2020, following complications from throat cancer. He was 65.

The collaboration with Lukather is not surprising given his close friendship with Eddie Van Halen. A report from Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf last year suggested that Alex was working with Lukather on unfinished Van Halen recordings. "[Eddie] and Steve Lukather were very good friends and they often worked together," Alex said at the time. "There is no one who can do this process with me as well as he can."

Lukather later confirmed the report, saying: "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, Lukather then walked his statements back on his Instagram, saying: "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 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."

Alex has previously stated that the Van Halen vault contains enough high-quality material for multiple albums. Speaking on the Talk Is Jericho podcast, he estimated there could be "three or four" more Van Halen records worth of music.

"I've talked about it loosely, and I am rather superstitious, but I can say a couple of things that I've mentioned before. We're gonna go through the 'vault' and go through some of the musical ideas that were there."

He added: "There was some good stuff in there. And you have to remember, when in the thick of it, sometimes the really great stuff kind of passes you by. And it's not until you revisit it going, 'Whoa, I forgot about that. This kicks ass.' But that takes time. And you wanna do it right. I wanna do it right."

In 2024, Alex released the full six-minute version of "Unfinished," the final song he wrote with Eddie, as part of the audiobook edition of his memoir Brothers.