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Sun 21 December 2025 20:00, UK
Playing in a band like Van Halen wasn’t something that Sammy Hagar ever took for granted.
He knew he had a musical golden ticket getting to play with the greatest band in the world, and he spent the rest of his time in the group proving that he could hold his own whenever Eddie took a solo and belt to the rafters whenever he needed to. But over time, he felt that some songs ended up getting pushed to the side way more than they should have after he was sent packing from the band.
Then again, if ‘The Red Rocker’ had his way, he would still be singing and performing with the band to this day. He never wanted to leave when Eddie called him up to go their separate ways, and while there were more than a few problems with business behind the scenes, he would gladly have renegotiated something than to lose out on one of the greatest bands that he had ever been in.
Because for Hagar, it wasn’t only about losing a good gig. He considered Eddie to be a dear friend, and while they had splintered for a few years, the reunion showed why they had gone different paths. Hagar was shocked to see Eddie in such a frail state whenever he went onstage to perform, but once they decided to part ways again with Michael Anthony joining Hagar, there were more than a few instances where the band would be throwing some subliminal shots his way without even acknowledging him.
Case in point: the 2000s-era Roth reunion. Getting Eddie’s son, Wolfgang, in the band was an inspired choice when it came time to replace Anthony on bass, but during the initial press conferences, hearing Roth say that it was a completely new band felt like a middle finger to anyone who had been raised on records like 5150 and For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge. So when Hagar saw his name getting etched out of history, he shrugged it off until the band started to refuse to license any of the ‘Van Hagar’ songs.
Compared to Roth’s era of the band being everywhere, Hagar felt the fans were being robbed of hearing Van Halen’s music thanks to them being petty, saying, “It’s so tragic the way that band ended. They try to license those songs more than anyone. ‘I Can’t Drive 55’ is one of the most licensed songs of my career. With ‘Right Now’ and ‘Dreams’, it’s the same thing, but the guys don’t want to exploit me; they want to exploit whatever they’re doing. It drives me nuts. It’s not about the money; it’s about the exposure. Why would you want to keep that song down?”
It’s not like the feeling is mutual among every member of the band, either. It’s no big shocker that Roth doesn’t want to remind people of what Hagar did after him, but when Wolfgang hosts his own radio shows, he’s more than happy to talk about the Hagar years and has said that some of the more interesting licks that his dad ever played came from the lower lights in their catalogue like Balance.
As it stands now, though, Alex seems to be content to leave that era of his career in the past. Even when releasing his tell-all book about his time reaching the top of the rock and roll world, the words ‘Sammy’ and ‘Hagar’ are left conspicuously absent throughout the entire book, with the drummer ending his story well before the band even got to try out ‘The Red Rocker’ behind the scenes.
Bad blood might run incredibly thick in the music industry, but considering Eddie was even on good terms with Hagar by the end of his life, maybe the grudges don’t need to carry on anymore. There are bound to be ups and downs in any band, but depriving younger fans of some of the greatest tunes of the latter half of their career feels like one of the biggest missed opportunities.
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