Sammy Hagar has suggested Alex Van Halen resents him for still being able to perform.
The ‘Jump’ band’s former frontman – who was the singer from 1985 to 1996, before returning in 2003 until 2005 – revealed in 2022 that he had been ghosted by drummer and late guitarist Eddie Van Halen’s younger brother, Alex, when he tried to contact him via email and phone.
And now he has opened up on one potential reason for their rift.
In an interview with Rolling Stone, Sammy was asked if the fact Alex prefers to keep out of the spotlight was to blame for him keeping his distance, to which he replied: “I don’t think that’s it.
“And I’ve had this conversation with a few people, including [former Van Halen manager] Irving Azoff. I’ve asked him, ‘What’s the problem?'”
And when asked if it was anything to do with the Cabo Wabo nightclub company the band founded in 1980 and him going on to buyout his bandmates and turn it into a lucrative business, he denied that to be the case.
He said: “To that I said, ‘How the f*** could they be angry about that?’ They gave me the damn thing, they walked out on me, left me with it. And they made me indemnify them in case I got sued and lost everything. They made me sign off big time. And I’m going, ‘I hope it’s not that.'”
Sammy believes it “really bothers him” that he’s still out there playing shows and doing music.
He said: “He’s not a singer. He’s not a guitar player. He is not really a band leader. And he seems like he doesn’t want to play drums or can’t play drums anymore, and he can’t go write a new record.
“And I think that really bothers him that Mike and I are still out there doing it. I would feel bad. If I put myself in his shoes, I would feel terrible if I couldn’t do it anymore.”
Sammy previously claimed Alex has a problem with him that he believes he’s gonna “take to his grave”.
On his failed attempts to contact him, he told Eddie Trunk on SiriusXM: “I reached out to Alex. I’m gonna tell you right now – I reached out to Alex again recently. Mikey had a sad thing happen in his family, and I reached out to Al, and he wouldn’t return my call or my e-mail.
“And so I said, ‘You know what? F*** it.’ It’s not on the top of my list, my agenda. I think Eddie deserves, definitely, a tribute … And the whole world would show up and the whole world would do it.
“But Alex has got a stick up his a** about something with me still, and he’s gonna take it to his grave, I guess.”
Hagar insisted he does not wish to be at loggerheads with the sticksman.
He said: “I’ve done it about five times now. I’m not trying to start a feud between the two of us. I love the guy, and I love Van Halen, what we did together.”
He also doesn’t talk to singer David Lee Roth, who Eddie’s son, Wolfgang Van Halen, previously suggested was the reason why a tribute show hasn’t happened.
Without giving any names, Wolfgang – who ended up playing bass for his dad’s band – alleged that there are some people in the Van Halen camp that make it hard to plan anything.
When asked if “a certain singer with three initials” is “the main problem”, he replied: “I would say, ‘Do your research on the history of Van Halen, and come to your [own] conclusions.'”
David quit the heavy rock group in 1984 to pursue a solo career, despite them being one of the most successful bands of the time, and Hagar was hired by the group in a bid to reinvent their career.
He reunited with his bandmates in 2007, and appeared on the 2012 LP ‘A Different Kind of Truth’.
Sammy said: “I don’t talk to Dave.
“And if he did it, he’d wanna do it without me. I’m sure that’s part of the dysfunction that Wolfie’s talking about.”
Eddie passed away after a lengthy battle with cancer in October 2020 at the age of 65.