by Lucas Aykroyd

Van Halen News Desk reporter Lucas Aykroyd interviewed Van Halen's lawyer Don Engel by phone on Tuesday, November 9 to get the latest information about Gary Cherone's departure from the band and Van Halen's future plans.

Mr. Engel is a senior partner at the Los Angeles legal firm of Engel and Engel and a longtime friend of Eddie Van Halen. He originally linked up with Van Halen due to his representation of Sammy Hagar at the time Sammy joined the band in 1986. Over the last 25 years, Mr. Engel has represented many other major artists in the music industry, including Cher and the Moody Blues.

Part A | Part B

VHND: How far ahead will the combination of Gary's departure and Eddie's surgery push the release date for the next Van Halen album?

Don Engel: I don't know that there was a release date. I'm not on top of the scheduling.

VHND: In your opinion, how does Gary's departure affect the band's credibility with the record-buying public at this stage?

Don Engel: That's speculation. And it's not an area of my expertise. I've only made a prediction about a record once in my life, and I was right, so I'm 100%. [chuckles] I picked "Amanda" by Boston to go to number one. I said to John Kalodner, "I don't know music at all. I'm an attorney with no musical talent. But if that isn't a number one song, I never heard one." I'm gonna quit making predictions while I'm ahead! Anyway, I have no idea what the public is going to think. I would assume it's not going to be a big deal. It might be if they'd only ever had one singer. For instance, I represent the Moody Blues, and those four guys have been together for 35 years. If somebody leaves that group, that's a big thing to Moody Blues fans. But as we know, the history of Van Halen over the last 15 or 20 years is that they've had three lead singers. So it's not an unexpected thing. The core of this band is Eddie, Alex, and Mike. And they've changed lead singers before.

VHND: Everything you're saying indicates that Van Halen does have a future and will go forward. Correct?

Don Engel: I think the idea of them disbanding would be off the wall. I talk to the guys, and everything they're doing now with me is forward-looking, and everyone's optimistic. I haven't heard any thoughts about stopping, being stopped, losing any fans or anything like that. They want their fans, they want to do their next album and a tour, and they want to be as good as they can be. I would say "as big as ever," but they've been so big in the past, who knows? My personal view, with my experience in the industry, is that it's a mistake to try to reach the peak of one's success all over again. For example, to expect Donna Summer to come back and be the number one diva in the world as she was in the 1970's would not be realistic. I think to even attempt to duplicate that level of success is suicidal. It just happens once in a lifetime.

VHND: And it's not 1984 anymore.

Don Engel: That's right. One of my other clients, Cher, came close to that kind of success with her last album. We initially made her deal overseas because there was some resistance in this country. But then she came back in America and had great success. And she's older than the Van Halen guys. In fact, I should tell them that: "Cher's older than you!" [chuckles] But you know, she wasn't unrealistic. She didn't expect to become the old Cher again. She's delighted that the new Cher has a hit. So when it comes to Van Halen, I see everything positive. There's no thought of quitting. In fact, I don't even see a major revamping. The band is the band, and they just need a compatible lead singer. I expect this is going to be a very smooth transition.

VHND: Mr. Engel, thanks for taking the time to speak with us today.

Don Engel: Thank you.

Part A | Part B

Lucas Aykroyd is the author of 1984: The Ultimate Van Halen Trivia Book. He has written about Van Halen for THE INSIDE and Wall of Sound, among other outlets.

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