Sammy Hagar revealed that he and Alex Van Halen , drummer and former bandmate in Van Halen , haven't spoken in over two decades. Alex even refused to mention Sammy's name in his recent memoir, Brothers.
In an interview with Rolling Stone Van Halen
vocalist bandmate and the reason for their lack of communication: “I had this conversation with a few people, including Irving Azoff [former Van Halen manager]. I asked him, ‘What’s the problem?’ And some people told me, ‘There was a time when Van Halen, when you guys built it, you were all partners in it. And then they didn’t want it anymore when it was losing money, and they gave it to you, and you turned it around and made hundreds of millions of dollars with it. And they’re mad. Alex is mad about that.’”
Sammy continued: “I said, ‘How the hell can they be mad about this? They gave me the crap, abandoned me, left me with it. And made me compensate them if I got sued and lost everything. They made me sign a liability waiver.’ And I said, ‘I hope that’s not it.’”
Sammy retorts: “Just leave me alone. I’ll leave you alone.”
“I think Alex is mad because I’m doing this, and Mike [ Anthony , former Van Halen bassist] and I are doing this, and he can’t,” Sammy added .
“He’s not a singer, he’s not a guitarist, and he’s not really a band leader. And it seems like he doesn’t want to play drums or can’t play drums anymore, and can’t write a new album. Alex wasn’t the band’s songwriter. He was the drummer. Eddie [ Van Halen ] and I wrote the songs, so we can go out and play them. I think it bothers him a lot that Mike and I are out there doing this. I would feel bad. If I put myself in his shoes, I would feel terrible if I couldn’t do this anymore. But I’m the happiest guy of all. That irritates people in itself. Being too happy, people don’t like that.”
Regarding Alex Van Halen having serious health problems and reasons to feel bitter, Sammy said: “Yes, I would say so. And I’m okay with that. Alex, you’re fine. Just leave me alone. I’ll leave you alone. Everything’s fine. By the way, I’m making you money, Alex. I’m selling Van Halen records and keeping the name alive, keeping the music alive.”
Sammy Hagar “misses” Eddie Van Halen “a lot”
Recently, Sammy Hagar detailed to the Los Angeles Times how the process of reconciliation with Eddie Van Halen went before the guitarist passed away in October 2020. The vocalist says he misses the guitarist "very much" and that the reconciliation was "very important" to him.
The vocalist also released a new personal single last Friday, April 25th, titled "Encore, Thank You, Goodnight," inspired by a dream he had in 2020 in which he reunited with his late bandmate , Eddie Van Halen.
READ ALSO: Sammy Hagar says he misses Eddie Van Halen “a lot”.
