In his first interview since Eddie Van Halen‘s passing in 2020, Alex Van Halen revealed that both Ozzy Osbourne and Chris Cornell were considered as potential frontmen for VAN HALEN during periods when the band was between singers.
While speaking with Rolling Stone to promote his upcoming memoir, Brothers, set for release on October 22, Alex shared that Osbourne was approached in 2001, two years after Gary Cherone‘s departure and before Sammy Hagar‘s return in 2003.
He and Eddie even met with BLACK SABBATH frontman Ozzy and his wife/manager Sharon Osbourne to discuss the possibility of recording an album together. However, the idea was dropped when the Osbournes launched their groundbreaking MTV reality show.
“When you get a dog, you don’t expect it to be a cat,” Alex told Rolling Stone. “When you get an Ozzy, you get Ozzy. Play the music, he’ll sing, and it’s gonna be great.”
In an email to Rolling Stone, Ozzy confirmed the story when the magazine reached out to him: “Yes, we were discussing it. It is something that if it had come to fruition, would have been phenomenal. Eddie and Alex were great friends of mine for a very long time and it’s a regret of mine that we never got it together. The Osbournes got in the way of creating new music at that time, unfortunately.”
Alex couldn’t recall the exact timing of when Chris Cornell was considered, but it was shortly before the SOUNDGARDEN singer’s death in 2017.
“Chris was in a very fragile part of his life, so to speak,” Alex said. “I got behind the drums, and he started playing bass. We played for 45 minutes. This motherf**ker got so into it, he started bleeding. I said, ‘This is the man you want.’ And then he died.”
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