Toto guitarist Steve Lukather has opened up about his involvement in an upcoming Van Halen album. He joined Alex Van Halen as a co-producer and close collaborator to help bring unreleased tracks — recorded with the late Eddie Van Halen — to completion.
Lukather clarified the nature of his role, emphasizing that he is there purely as a supportive figure and not as a performer or creative contributor to the music itself.
“I am working with Alex Van Halen on some unreleased, amazing, unfinished tracks with Alex and Eddie. And Ed playing bass overdubbing with the other track. I can’t say too much, because I, you know, signed the thing. I mean, I’m not gonna say anything that Alex hasn’t said. Al is the boss,” Lukather said.
“I was asked to be his kemosabe man, to be his right hand, you know, co-producer friend help out. I’m not playing on it. I’m not writing. I’m not singing. There’s no Toto fingerprints.”
Lukather also addressed any speculation about him stepping into Eddie Van Halen’s shoes, firmly dismissing the notion.
“Anybody to think that I was going to walk in and be Eddie Van Halen must have been high or something like that. I mean, I could think of five guys that are more qualified, including his own son, Wolf. But that’s not needed,” he continued.
He then shed light on what the album actually contains, describing the raw and complex nature of the recordings left behind by Eddie.
“The point of putting this out is that it’s got some incredible Ed solo playing live on the floor. This is live, him and Alex playing and Ed would overdub the bass and the idea was to finish it. But these songs were a little bit more complex. Maybe. I hate to use this word ‘progressive’ in the sense of, you know, out-Rushing Rush a little bit. I have heard some amazing things that need to be finished,” Lukather added.
The project is shaping up to be one of the most significant archival releases in rock history. It draws from a vault of material that few outside the Van Halen inner circle have ever heard.
The album is built around unfinished instrumental tracks that Eddie and Alex recorded together, with Eddie having overdubbed bass parts as part of the original sessions. The intention was always to complete these songs. Their complexity — described by Lukather as leaning toward the progressive end of the spectrum — meant they were left unfinished. Now, with Alex at the helm, the project is finally moving toward a release.
Paul Rodgers, the legendary vocalist known for his work with Bad Company, has been approached to handle vocal duties on the recordings. Neither Sammy Hagar nor David Lee Roth is expected to appear on the album. Hagar publicly expressed disappointment at being left out of the project, noting that hundreds of hours of music from his era remain sitting in the Van Halen vaults.
The scale of what remains unreleased underscores just how prolific Eddie Van Halen was as a musician and collaborator. Alex Van Halen appears determined to ensure that at least some of it reaches the public in a form that does it justice.
No official release date or album title has been announced, but the project is actively in progress. With Lukather serving as a trusted creative ally and Alex overseeing every decision, the album is being built with care — a final testament to one of rock’s greatest guitar legacies.
