Steve Lukather has issued a statement to clarify his involvement, or lack thereof, in a rumored VAN HALEN project.
Last week, De Telegraaf, the largest Dutch daily morning newspaper, reported that VAN HALEN drummer Alex Van Halen is collaborating with Lukather on a new VAN HALEN album.
De Telegraaf [paywalled article] quoted Alex as saying: “Ed (Eddie Van Halen) 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, on his end, shared with De Telegraaf: “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.”
On Saturday, March 15, Lukather addressed his potential involvement in a new VAN HALEN album via Instagram, stating: “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.
“Lets see …”
Steve Lukather and Eddie Van Halen shared a deep friendship and a rich history of musical collaboration. Their iconic contributions to Michael Jackson‘s “Beat It” cemented their place in pop history, and they continued to work together, with Eddie even playing bass and co-writing “Twist The Knife” on Lukather‘s solo debut.
Alex previously told Rolling Stone that he’s exploring the possibility of using AI to create new guitar solos and has suggested that Robert Plant could sing on the tracks.
Alex mentioned that there’s a lot of unreleased VAN HALEN music stored away. Many of these tracks were created during casual jam sessions over the years, but they haven’t been finished.
“They’re all little pieces,” he said. “A bunch of licks don’t make a song.”
He also revealed that he has reached out to OpenAI, the non-profit organization behind the AI chatbot ChatGPT, to explore the possibility of analyzing “the patterns of how Edward would have played something” in order to generate new guitar solos. Even more surprising is his selection of LED ZEPPELIN’s Robert Plant, whom he hasn’t seen in over 30 years, to lead the project.
“You’re gonna think I’m out of my f**king mind,” Alex added. “But when conditions are right, things will manifest.”
Source: metaladdicts.com
