VAN HALEN's Manager Approached SAMMY HAGAR To Front Las Vegas Residency With MICHAEL ANTHONY, ALEX VAN HALEN, And JOE SATRIANI - "I’m Not In Love With The Idea Of Being Van Halen Without Eddie Van Halen... Matter Of Fact, I’m Dead Against It"

16:30 Thursday, 29 September 2022

Sammy Hagar has opened up to Rolling Stone about Van Halen's last days, trying to make peace with Alex Van Halen, and a possible Las Vegas tribute to Eddie Van Halen.

Rolling Stone's Andy Green begins the feature with the following: "A little over a week ago, we spoke with Sammy Hagar about his new album Crazy Times, which he cut with Nashville producer Dave Cobb and his longtime band the Circle. “It’s a concept record,” Hagar said. “It’s about how I feel about everything that has gone on since the pandemic started.”

Near the end of the interview, the conversation inevitably turned toward Van Halen and the possibility of a tribute concert to Eddie Van Halen featuring all the surviving members of the band. A few days later, we heard from Hagar’s camp that he wanted to get back on the phone: He had a lot more to say about his former band. “I really think that it’s OK just to speak how I really feel now,” he said when we reconnected, “because there is no animosity left in my heart, in my soul, anywhere.”

We wound up talking about Van Halen for more than an hour. The conversation touched on everything from his initial departure from the band in 1996 to his emotional reunion with Eddie Van Halen a few months before his death in 2020. Along the way, he revealed that Irving Azoff, Van Halen’s manager since the early 2000s, reached out last year to gauge his interest in a possible Las Vegas residency with drummer Alex Van Halen, bassist Michael Anthony, and a superstar guitar player. There are no concrete plans at the moment to make that a reality, but he does hope to finally make peace with Alex Van Halen in the near future and reestablish a friendship that has suffered from years of estrangement."

The following is an excerpt from a slightly edited transcript of the conversation...

Rolling Stone: In those e-mails Rolling Stone recently published, he said he wanted to do the big tour with you, Dave, and Michael. Wolfgang confirmed this in many interviews. It’s going to go down in rock history as one of the best tours that never happened.

Sammy Hagar: "What a shame, huh? I mean, honestly, the shame is that Eddie Van Halen’s no longer with us. That’s the shame. But if we would’ve done that… All the damage that I did with my book, the damage Ed did with his actions and his stuff he did in public, and the Cherone shenanigans, and the Roth reunions, my reunion… That would’ve righted everything, if we would have did that tour. That would have righted everything, and I wanted that so bad. Just for all of us to go, “We’re clean again. We’re angels. We’re spotless.” I’m sure this’ll become clickbait if you run it, but there was a time there where I was embarrassed to say I was in Van Halen."

Rolling Stone: When was that?

Sammy Hagar: "About six or seven years ago, when they were out with Dave, and Ed was still really in bad shape. They were out there making a lot of noise as Van Halen, and somebody would say, “Sammy Hagar from Van Halen.” And I would go, “Hey, hey. Just Sam Hagar. That’s enough.” I wanted people to know, but it was almost like it was a black mark because Roth was doing crazy stuff, and Ed was doing crazy stuff. I didn’t want anyone to think that I was Diamond Dave."

Rolling Stone: Let’s move into the present now. Joe Satriani jammed with Alex and Jason Newsted last year. Did Joe call you up before doing that to say it was happening?

Sammy Hagar: "No, because the Van Halen camp is 100% secrecy. I bet when he walked through the door, they made him sign something, and I’m dead serious. Alex is a very, very secretive guy. I don’t know how he can keep his lips so sealed. I could probably say something horrible about him right now and he wouldn’t even respond. Don’t take that the wrong way. I have nothing bad to say about him. I’m just talking about how stubborn he is. He does not budge.

"But Joe told me about it later, after it happened. I knew there was talk of it because Irving Azoff had called me. He said, 'I want to do a residency in Vegas with you and Mike and Al and a superstar guitar player.' And I said 'Like who?”'And he said, 'Like Joe Satriani.'

"I said, 'It just sounds like Chickenfoot with Alex Van Halen instead of Chad Smith.' I wasn’t much for that, as much as I love Joe. He could do that job best, without a doubt, because he’s so friggin’ anal about the way he plays, and every single note. I said to Irving, 'I’m going to call Joe.'

"When I did, he told me what happened. And I said, 'Jason Newsted? What the fuck is going on here, man? Whose idea is this? This must be a Dave idea.' And Irving said it was a Dave idea.

"Why would he want anyone but Mike? It’s probably because he knows that Mike and I are so close. I would imagine if they would’ve called Mike, Mike would’ve said, “Yes, I’ll do it with Sam.” Because without Ed, there is no Van Halen to start with. So now, you’re going to go out and just play the early songs, and not play the second era?

"That would be the biggest failure Van Halen ever had if they call themselves “Van Halen” if they didn’t have Mikey. If it’s just Alex with other guys, that’s like what Jason Bonham does with Led Zeppelin. There’s a million bands out there doing that. It would be totally nuts. Also, I’d prefer that nobody attempts to replace Eddie Van Halen. I think that’s blasphemy and should be illegal.

"Anyway, I think that Irving boohooed it, and Dave went around him and did it anyway. I’m surprised that Alex went that far, but Alex might have just been his methodical self and said, “Well, let’s see what this is like. Let’s see how it feels.”

Rolling Stone: If they wanted to do a Vegas residency, or any kind of tour, with you and Alex and Mike, is that something that you may be interested in pursuing?

Sammy Hagar: "Not a tour, no. I wouldn’t leave what I’m doing for that. I would make myself available to have a rehearsal, and see which guitar player would work the best. I’m telling you, Joe would be the best. But like I said, then it’s just kind of Chickenfoot with Alex, which there’s a problem there. And I think that’s probably what they were thinking when they tried to get a different bass player, but that’s stupid, too.

"I would definitely love to play with Alex and Mike with a great guitar player that doesn’t try to just mimic Eddie perfectly. There’s so many great guitar players. There’s Steve Vai. There’s frigging John 5, who is a great guitar player."

Rolling Stone: Do you like the idea then of a short Vegas residency or are you thinking of merely a one-off tribute show?

Sammy Hagar: "I’m thinking of one-off weekend or something where we give the money away to some cause. It can’t just be, 'Hey, we’re going to grab some money.' I got plenty of money. There’s nothing that I would do for money that I just wasn’t in love with the idea of doing. And I’m not in love with the idea of being Van Halen without Eddie Van Halen.

"Matter of fact, I’m dead against it. But I would love to play music with Alex and Mike again. I would love to play those songs again. And if we did a residency or a tribute, I would sing 50/50. I would sing half the Dave songs too for the Van Halen fans. And those songs are great. I don’t mind singing some of them. The lyrics don’t fit in my life today, but neither does 'Rock Candy' or 'Bad Motor Scooter'.”