Sammy Hagar hasn’t given up on a future reconciliation with Alex Van Halen.
“I don’t want to play in a band with Al,” Hagar said during a recent Q&A with Rolling Stone’s Andy Greene. “I’m not asking for that. I can see that he’s not capable of doing that. If he was, I’d be happy to play with him, but it’s not what I’m looking for. I just want to be friends again.”
During the interview, Hagar discussed the Best Of All Worlds tour [coming to Las Vegas in April 2025], the Van Halen songs he plans on adding to the setlist, a new song about Edward Van Halen he’s recorded with Joe Satriani, seeing Wolfgang Van Halen at the recent Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductions, his reaction to Alex’s book Brothers, the failed Edward Van Halen tribute tour with David Lee Roth, and more. Below are some excerpts from Hagar’s interview:
Q: What songs that you didn’t do over the summer do you hope to bring in [for the Las Vegas residency]?
A: Oh, shit, many of them. “Love Walks In.” The Twister song, “Humans Being.” “Don’t Tell Me What Love Can Do.” I’m talking deep tracks. “Can’t Stop Loving You.” Those Van Halen songs, and from me, “Three Lock Box,” “Fall in Love Again,” “Your Love’s Driving Me Crazy.” I want to play Montrose. I want to play “Rock Candy,” “Bad Motor Scooter,” and “Space Station #5.”
I want to play more Chickenfoot, because basically this band is Chickenfoot with a keyboard player. Every night we’ll just switch a Chickenfoot song, we’ll switch a Montrose tune, we’ll switch a couple of Van Halen songs. Even Mikey will change. We do “Ain’t Talkin’ ’bout Love,” but we’ll do “Runnin’ With the Devil” sometimes instead. That’s a cool song too. There’s plenty of material. In nine shows, I hope we can get a shitload of them songs in there.
Q: You and Wolfgang Van Halen were both at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last month. Did you get the chance to catch up with him?
A: Yeah. I walked into Ozzy’s dressing room because I wanted to say hi to Ozz and some of the guys and to Maynard [James Keenan]. Wolfie’s sitting there, and he just looked…We caught eyes and he just jumps up, and we just fuckin’ hugged and just got goosebumps on both of us.
It’s so funny. Every time I’ve ever run into him and we embrace, I get the goosebumps because I feel like it’s Eddie. I really feel he’s the closest thing to Eddie on this planet right now. He looks like him, when you look him in the eye. He does his gestures. He takes his finger and he pushes his hair out of his face like Eddie. He did that when I was talking to him. I said, “I can’t even look at you, Wolf. I’m getting teared up.” Yeah, I love him and what he’s doing.
Q: I’m sure you read about Alex Van Halen’s book. He ends the narrative in 1984, doesn’t mention you, says the essence of Van Halen ended when Dave left, and seemed very reluctant to even say your name on the promotional tour.
A: It’s sad. I haven’t read the whole book, but I’ve seen all the excerpts, and I heard some of the interviews. It breaks my heart, because if I think what Alex is going through, losing his brother, never played with anybody else in his life, and then his health… When I saw how rickety he is, I realized, “No wonder he’s not answering my call when I say, ‘Do you want to go out and play with us?'” He can’t.
That breaks my heart, because I can only put myself in those shoes and say, “What if I couldn’t sing and perform anymore?” The thing that I did my whole life, the thing I devoted my life to, the thing that made me rich and famous and gave me the most beautiful life on the planet, and all of a sudden I can’t do that anymore? I would feel like I was robbing the fans, to start with. When you put yourself in his shoes, I’m saying, “Okay, I feel sorry for him.”
Why he left me out, I would like to hear him explain that someday, because I don’t get it completely. I know that he’s bitter about some things, whatever that is… It’s like, “If you don’t want that era, that even gives me more justification to say I own it then,” because no one else can do it, and he can’t do it even without me. It makes it easier for Mike and I. We’re sitting there going, “Okay, I guess we own this,” and we have the obligation to bring this to the fans to keep this music alive, keep it live and alive.
This music is too good to throw away. When you see the way these fans react, like I said, when we go out and play these songs. When we played ‘5150’ and ‘Summer Nights,’ it’s like, “Oh, my God.” You’re sitting there going, “Is this real? These people are happy.”
Q: Before he hurt his back, he was talking to Dave about a possible tour. According to him, the whole thing fell apart because Dave didn’t want to do a tribute to Ed in the middle of the set. Are you able to understand that at all?
A: Yeah. Pure fuckin’ ego. “This show’s about me. What are you talking about?” That’s so wrong. I shied away from doing too much about Eddie on the Best of All Worlds Tour. It was an agreement between all of us, that we don’t want to look like we’re trying to suck vibes off of Eddie Van Halen’s death. I’m so careful about that. There’s haters out there that would misinterpret that, saying, “Oh, yeah, he’s out there making money off Eddie being dead.” No.
We showed Eddie’s picture on the screen a couple times and I said a couple nice things, always, but it wasn’t a tribute to Eddie himself. If it would’ve been, it would’ve been a whole different kind of vibe. I would’ve gotten every great guitar player in the business today, Steve Vai and all of them, and brought them all out, and everybody would’ve taken a turn at a different Eddie song, and made it all about Eddie. No, this was about the music of Van Halen and my legacy too.
Like I said, I played seven of my songs. I think it’s important that people know that. If I was making it a Van Halen tribute, I’d call it Van Halen or Van Hagar. This is a celebration to the fans, a celebration of the music and my songs.
Q: Tell me more about this new song you made with Joe. Will it be a standalone single?
A: It’ll be a single, I guess. We’re working on it right now. Mike and I just finished the bass and the background vocals. I took a shot at a lead vocal, but I don’t know if it’s done yet. Joe’s got his parts done. Kenny played drums. I gotta tell you, it was emotional singing it, because the song, it’s about Eddie. That’s the best I can put it. It’s a thank you to him, and it’s a thank you to the fans, and it’s a thank you to that era.
Q: Is the song coming out before the Vegas residency?
A: I hope so. We should be out in the first of the year, maybe February or March.
Q: I interviewed Art Garfunkel a few weeks back. He told me about making peace with Paul Simon recently after a decade of estrangement. They sat down, talked, cried, and hugged it out. These are guys in their eighties. It shows that it’s never too late for you and Alex.
A: It’s on my bucket list that I will not take this to my grave, and I don’t want Al taking it to his grave. I’ve put the olive branch out there many times, and I just put it out again to Irving Azoff. I want to give him some more credit about that book. The way he wrote it is soulful and touching. I mean, about their childhood. It’s like a love letter to his brother, and that’s touching to me. I want to give him some love for that. I understand he probably couldn’t have done the whole era in one book. It would’ve been the Bible, the dictionary, so maybe he’s got plans for a Volume 2. Who knows?
I want to be friends, though. I don’t want to play in a band with Al. I’m not asking for that. I can see that he’s not capable of doing that. If he was, I’d be happy to play with him, but it’s not what I’m looking for. I just want to friends again.