Sammy Hagar on his fallout with Eddie Van Halen: “What happened with us at the end was such a shame”
“The peak of my musical life was Van Halen,” said the former frontman.
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Sammy Hagar has opened up about his fallout with the late Eddie Van Halen, saying “it’s such a shame” things turned out the way they did.
The 75-year-old Red Rocker was speaking in a recent interview with USA Today when he admitted that “The peak of my musical life was Van Halen.”
“My ego wants to say I was doing great as a solo artist. Well, yeah, I was doing fine, but Van Halen was some other thing man. It was a four-headed monster, and I miss Ed dearly.”
Commenting on his estranged relationship with the late guitarist, Hagar said, “I cherish him more than ever. What happened with us at the end was such a shame. It’s what happens when alcohol and drugs are involved, and I’m going through a divorce. It’s such a shame. If Van Halen were still together today, we’d be headlining every one of these festivals all over the world.”
“I miss his unique creativity. He’d play something and I’d go what, where the hell did that come from? He was so out of left field, so original, that creativity always lifted me.”
Elsewhere in the chat, Hagar also spoke about his creative struggles during the pandemic, saying “During COVID, I couldn’t write.”
“When things came back together I wrote Crazy Times. I think it’s my best writing since Montrose or Van Halen,” he explained. “It’s great, but it’s dark. I had to talk about the crazy times and how we came out the other side because nothing’s the same – not your job, not my job.”
“Since I wrote that record, I’ve learned to be able to say some negative things, to say it’s OK to talk about something if you can help other people understand it.”