Sammy Hagar said he'll "never play" with Van Halen bandmate Alex Van Halen again
NEED TO KNOW
Hagar described Alex as a "negative" person
The two have not spoken for over 20 years
There's no love lost between formerVan HalenbandmatesSammy HagarandAlex Van Halen.
The rockers have not spoken in more than 20 years — and in a new interview, Hagar said he's certain he will never again share the stage with the drummer.
"I'm the biggestPink Floydfan. I seeDavid Gilmoursay, 'I will never play withRoger Watersagain,' and I know what he means. I feel that way about Alex Van Halen," Hagar toldClassic Rock. "They're negative people."
It remains unclear just why Hagar, 78, and Alex, 72, no longer speak, though Alex didn't even mention Hager's name in his 2024 memoirBrothers, writing only that Van Halen "had a lot of other singers over the years" followingDavid Lee Roth's departure in 1985.
Hagar toldRolling Stonein April 2025 that he and Alex hadn't spoken in 21 years. Though the interviewer suggested that Alex was unhappy with Hagar's 2011 memoir — which went into detail about the low points ofEddie Van Halen's life — and that he was just generally a more private person than Hagar, the Red Rocker disagreed.
"I think Al's angry because I'm out doing it…. And he can't. 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," Hagar said. "If I put myself in his shoes, I would feel terrible if I couldn't do it anymore."
He went on to encourage Alex to "just leave me alone," saying he would do the same for him.
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"Everything's good. I'm making you money, by the way, Al," he toldRS. "I'm out there selling Van Halen records and keeping the name alive, keeping the music alive."
Hagar previously had a falling out with Alex's brother Eddie, but the two"buried the hatchet" before Eddie diedin 2020.
"Well, to be able to have talked to Eddie and had a wonderful rapport with him on text, it means everything to me," Hagar toldFox News. "If he would have died and we would have not ever said 'I love you' to each other again, I would feel really bad. I probably wouldn't be able to talk… I wouldn't be able to talk to you about it."
Meanwhile, the rocker has also publicly slammed Roth, for whom he took over duties as Van Halen lead singer in 1985. Though Hagar left the group in 1996, he returned on tour in 2004.
Hagar said on theSteve-O's Wild Ridepodcast thatRoth "ain't like his persona."
"[David's] not a fun guy. He doesn't play well with others. I'm not sure what his problem is," he said. "He just always is about, 'How can I make this guy look bad? And not just me — in life. He's a chest-beating motherf---er. And God bless him, 'cause the early stuff is frickin' great."
Read the original article onPeople
