Alex Van Halen Says Wife Stine Saved Him From Addiction in New Memoir

Alex Van Halen, legendary drummer of the rock band Van Halen, is opening up about his battle with drug addiction and how his wife, Stine Schyberg, played a pivotal role in saving his life. In his new memoir Brothers, written as a tribute to his late brother and bandmate Eddie Van Halen, Alex shares deeply personal stories about his struggles, the price of fame, and his journey to recovery.

In the memoir, Alex, now 71, reflects on how the rockstar lifestyle led him down a dangerous path. Touring in the ’90s with Van Halen, he began to feel trapped in a “one-dimensional” and tiring routine. But everything changed when he met Stine, now 59, whom he describes as his “cosmic connection.” The two married in 2000 and share a son, Malcolm, 25. “I literally owe my life to Stine, my wife of almost 30 years,” Alex writes.

Alex’s addiction took hold after a painful vertebral injury during the band’s 1995 Balance tour. Struggling with neck pain and sleeplessness, he was given Valium by the band’s tour manager. What began as a coping mechanism soon spiraled into full-blown addiction. Recalling the post-tour haze, he admitted that he “walked through life with my head in a fluffy cloud for six months.” 

For Stine, the situation hit close to home. She had already lost her brother, also a drummer, to a heroin overdose, and Alex writes that her experience allowed her to see the warning signs. “I owe that woman my life. She loved me enough  —and was strong enough—to say, ‘I’m out of here,’” he reveals. One day, she left him, taking their cat, Emma, with her. It was a wake-up call for Alex.

After weeks of intense withdrawal and recovery, Alex got clean, and Stine eventually returned home. “Losing Stine was the only price I wasn’t willing to pay for the drug,” Alex writes. He credits her with helping him carve out a life away from the pressures of fame, something his brother Eddie, who also battled addiction, never fully achieved before his death in 2020 at age 65.

In Brothers, Alex shares intimate details of his relationship with Eddie, their childhood, and their incredible rise to stardom. While the memoir celebrates their bond, it also serves as a raw and emotional reflection on the darker sides of fame, addiction, and the price of success.

“This book is a fascinating story of a band — and so much more: it’s also a chronicle of family and talent and the passion to create,” said editor Sara Nelson, who also called the book “the definitive take on Edward Van Halen’s life and death from the one who knew and loved him best.”