Alex Van Halen says he and Toto star Steve Lukather are about to start work on a new album together.
“I’m getting ready to do this record with Lukather and a couple of other people,” Van Halen told longtime Iron Maiden drummer Nicko McBrain on the Metal Sticks podcast. “It should be exciting.”
Van Halen‘s legendary drummer legend didn’t dig any further into the nature of the record, and noted that Lukather, famous for his guitar work with Toto and on countless studio sessions, wasn’t committed to any specific role in the project.
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However, it’s possible Van Halen is referring to his plans to complete unreleased music featuring himself and his brother and longtime bandmate Eddie Van Halen, who died in 2020 at age 65. Both he and Lukather have discussed this possibility in recent years.
In November of 2024, Van Halen revealed that there were “three or four” albums’ worth of unheard music in the brothers’ vault. “They will stay there until we figure out how and why and what to do with them,” he told Chris Jericho. “And again, you have to remember, it has to be on the level of where Ed and I, where we used to play. We’re not just gonna shovel it in. We have access to some of the greatest musicians on the planet, and a lot of ’em are more than willing to take a chance on some of the stuff.”
In early 2025, Van Halen reportedly told the Dutch newspaper De Telegraf that he had recruited Lukather to help him complete some of that unreleased music, stating, “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.”
Lukather was quick to put limits on what his involvement would be in such a collaboration, describing his role as more like a co-producer and declaring that he would “not ever” play a note of guitar on a Van Halen song.
“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,” Lukather explained. “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.”
That lines up with the open-ended way Van Halen describes Lukather’s role in the new project during the new Metal Sticks interview. “We have a long history together. …When you’re in, I don’t want to use the word business, but if you’re in this line of work.. it goes beyond a superficial contract and ‘I want you to do this and do that.’ We do it because we like something or we want to do it because it’s creative. …. The moment you get into contracts that are very specific about what your role in the project is, it falls apart.”
Van Halen Albums Ranked
A ranking of every Van Halen album.
Gallery Credit: Ultimate Classic Rock Staff
