Van Halen’s Sammy Hagar wants to ‘be friends again’ with Alex Van Halen: ‘I won’t take you to my grave’

Van Halen’s Sammy Hagar has revealed that he would like to reconcile with bandmate Alex Van Halen amid their long-running feud.

In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, the 77-year-old singer expressed her hope that she and Alex, 71, can mend their relationship before they die.

“It’s on my bucket list that I won’t take you to my grave, and I don’t want Al to take you to his grave,” Hagar said. “I put an olive branch in there many times, and I just pull it out again [Van Halen manager] Irving Azoff.

Hagar became Van Halen’s new frontman in 1985, when he replaced lead singer David Lee Roth, joining Alex, the band’s former drummer, Alex’s brother and guitarist Eddie Van Halen, and bassist/vocalist Michael Anthony .

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After producing four multi-platinum albums, Hagar’s time with Van Halen ended with a split in 1995. The Cabo Wabo founder reunited with Van Halen in 2004, but left the group again after completing their successful summer tour.

Hagari’s second departure led to a prolonged feud between Eddie and Alex. However, Hagar and Eddie reconciled months before the Van Halen founder died of lung cancer in October 2020.

Hagar, center, became Van Halen’s new frontman in 1985, replacing lead singer David Lee Roth. (Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

While talking to Rolling Stone, Hagar explained that she did not believe that she and Alex would make music together again.

“I want to be friends, though,” he said. “I don’t want to play in a team with Al. I’m not asking for that. I see that he can’t do that. If he was there, I’d be happy to play with him, but I’m not. What I want is to be friends again.”

In a July interview with Ultimate Classic Rock, Hagar revealed that Alex didn’t respond when she and Anthony tried to talk to him several times before the two started their “Best of All Worlds” tour.

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The tour, which includes many songs from Van Halen’s catalog, ended in August, but will return to Las Vegas for a nine-show residency at Dolby Live at Park MGM in the spring of 2025.

“We reached out to him a dozen times before this tour, every way. Email, text message, phone, text message, OK? No response. No response,” Hagar told the outlet.

“I mean, we do our best to get together or just talk or have breakfast, lunch or dinner,” he added. “Go to the studio and play. Come to my house, or I’ll come to yours. Go ride horses, go live on the beach. What do you want to do? Let’s do something. Let’s meet. And nothing. .”

Hagari left the group twice after falling out with Eddie and Alex. (Paul Natkin/WireImage)

In October, Alex told Billboard that he “didn’t want” to take part in the tour.

“They are not doing justice to the team,” he said. “They can do what they want to do. That’s not my business.”

While speaking with Rolling Stone, Hagari shared his reaction to Alex’s new memoir “Brothers.” In the book, Alex does not mention Hagari’s name, except to note that “We had many other singers over the years.”

“The heart and soul and creativity and magic was Dave, Ed, Mike, and me,” he told Rolling Stone in an October interview.

In “Brothers,” Alex left the Van Hagar era entirely, ending the group’s story in 1984 before Roth’s departure.

Hagari told Rolling Stone that she thought the act was “sad.”

“I haven’t read the whole book, but I’ve seen all the excerpts, and I’ve heard some of the conversations,” Red Rocker said.

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The singer said that he did not want to take their dispute “to my grave.” (Photos by Aaron Rapoport/Corbis/Getty)

He continued, “It breaks my heart, because when I think about what Alex is going through, losing his brother, never playing with anyone else in his life, and then his life … is it surprising that he doesn’t pick up my phone when I say, ‘Do you want to come out and play with us? ‘” He can’t.’

In an interview with Rolling Stone in October, Alex said his mobility was limited due to a spinal injury he suffered in 2022.

“That breaks my heart, because I can put myself in those shoes and say, ‘What if I can’t sing and sing anymore?'” Hagar said of Alex’s life challenges. “Something I’ve done my whole life, something I’ve dedicated my life to, something that made me rich and famous and gave me the best life in the world, and all of a sudden I can’t do that anymore? I feel like I’m robbing the fans. When you put yourself in his shoes, I say, ‘Okay, I feel for him.’

He continued, “Why did he leave me out, I’d love to hear him explain that one day, because I don’t get it completely. I know he’s bitter about other things, whatever… It’s like, ‘If you don’t do it’ I don’t want that period, that gives me more reasons to be in control at that time, ‘ because no one else can do it, and he can’t do it even without me.

“It makes it easier for Mike and I,” added Hagari. “We’re sitting there, ‘Okay, I think we own this,’ and we have a responsibility to bring this to the fans to keep this music alive, keep it alive and alive.

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However, Hagari went on to praise Alex’s memory and wondered if the drummer had any succession plans.

“I want to give him credit for this book. The way he writes is touching and touching,” said Hagari. “I mean their childhood. It’s like a love letter to their brother, and that touches me.”

“I want to give him some love for that. I understand that he probably couldn’t do the whole period in one book. It could be the Bible, the dictionary, so maybe he has plans for Volume 2. Who knows. ?”