Alex Van Halen Selling All His Gear & Quitting Music For One Heartbreaking Reason
Alex Van Halen is currently selling all of his gear and memorabilia in an auction via Backstage Auctions. Van Halen shared that he has been working hard for decades and hopes that passing on these important items will inspire current and future generations and help them to succeed. He said that he kept all of the gear and instruments in a warehouse for decades and is finally ready to put them in the hands of fans. A portion of the proceeds from the auction will go to the Ride On Therapeutic Horsemanship charity.
His former Van Halen bandmate Michael Anthony belives that he is giving up all of these items and retiring partially due to his late brother. Eddie Van Halen passed away in 2020 after a battle with cancer and he said that his brother has never fully recovered from the grief.
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Anthony said, “I was pretty surprised when I heard about this auction that he’s going to be holding in the beginning of June. Somebody had sent me the link to it, and it appears like he’s selling everything right down to his last drumstick. I know that he continues to grieve today over Eddie’s passing. And basically, Eddie was the only person that he actually ever played music with.”
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He continued, “I never really knew Alex to be a person to go out and jam with other people or other bands – unless Eddie was a part of it. Maybe he feels that, since his brother’s gone, he doesn’t feel the desire to go out and play anymore. But I can only speculate. When I found out about this auction and started checking it out, it is pretty sad, because it truly means that it’s the end of anything that could have been as far as tribute-wise, you know?”
The collection is full of over 350 items including drum kits, cymbals, gongs, sticks, personal items and awards, autographed pieces and many, many more. If you’re a fan of Alex Van Halen and the band in general, you won’t want to miss out. Each item sold will also come with a signed COA from Alex too! While the auction has since closed you can check out some of the realized prices here.
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