Over the last week, rumours have been rife that a new Van Halen album could be included in the offing. Rumblings first started when Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf reported that the iconic rock band’s drummer, Alex Van Halen, is working on songs for a new album. It was also revealed in the same article that Toto guitarist Steve Lukather would be involved in helping Alex Van Halen complete a number of previously unreleased and unfinished Van Halen recordings.
However, the plot thickened after Lukather made a statement on his Instagram account, 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, that’s 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 honoured Al would ask me, though.
“Lets see …”
The guitarist is a long time friend of the Van Halen brothers and had previously worked with Edward Van Halen on the Michael Jackson track Beat It.
It is believed that following Edward Van Halen’s death in 2020, enough material had been stored at the guitarist’s studio 5150 to produce three or four new albums.
The band’s last studio album was the well received A Different Kind of Truth, released in 2012, reaching number 2 in the US and number 6 in the UK. It was the only Van Halen album to feature Wolfgang Van Halen on bass and the first to feature vocalist David Lee Roth since 1984.
