What a great conversation between Anderson Cooper and Alex Van Halen!
This comes after the recent release of Alex’s new book called Brothers. I read the book when it first came out in October, a few weeks after the anniversary of Eddie’s untimely passing back in 2020.
I wasn’t even 4 minutes into this book and was already tearing up. Anyone’s life cut short by unexpected circumstances is always tragic. As Alex says in his Overture, “this just wasn’t the plan” …and it even makes me sad that you’re no longer here. I love their music, having grown up on their tunes. I was also learning to play the guitar at the time and wanted so much to create like he did.
Anderson reads two other quotes from the book that pull hard on your hearts strings:
“I watched you take your last breath. In that moment, all the stuff you did or made in this world, you can’t take it with you.”
“Energy can be neither created nor destroyed. When a cloud dissipates, what happens to the water? It isn’t gone, it just changed form. The same thing goes for you you Ed, or any other human being on this planet, so I’ll never say goodbye.”
If you liked this interview, here is another one worth watching with Ariel Levy at Live Talks Los Angeles.