Sammy Hagar Reached Out to Alex Van Halen on His Birthday, Heard ‘Nothing’
Sammy Hagar has revealed in a new interview that he reached out to estranged Van Halen drummer Alex Van Halen recently for the latter's birthday (May 8) and received no reply. The Red Rocker says he also invited current VH frontman David Lee Roth to his inaugural "High Tide Beach Party & Car Show" set to take place in Huntington Beach, Calif. this October.
"I sent [Alex] a nice text and an e-mail and a phone message, saying, 'Hey, Sammy here. Miss you, buddy. Hope you're doing good. Happy birthday," Hagar tells Trunk Nation in an interview which can be heard below. "And if you ever wanna get together and talk, be buddies, be friends, you know here's my e-mail, here's my text, and here's my house phone number, here's my…' Nothing. Oh, and I said, 'How's Ed [Van Halen] doing? I hope he's healthy. And give him my love.' Nothing. Nothing! Wooooh! I mean, that's, like, wow! I guess no waters went under that bridge. And when I looked at the bridge, it was dry. There's not a drop that comes down underneath that bridge."
When it was noted that this year marks the 40th anniversary of Van Halen's self-titled debut, Hagar says that would have been the perfect time for a reunion tour with the band featuring himself and Roth.
"That's the year it shoulda been the Sam and Dave reunion tour with Ed, Alex and Mike [Anthony]," Hagar says. "That's what it shoulda been - for 40 years. Do an hour with the Diamond, an hour with me, we could go back and forth; do two songs, two songs, two songs. We don't ever have to see each other, you know what I mean? I could come on the left side of the stage, he could come on stage right so we don't have to run into each other - I don't care. Just give the people a great, great show like that. That ship has sailed, so obviously that ain't gonna happen."
Hagar goes on to say he even reached out to Roth to play the "High Tide Beach Party & Car Show" which will be taking place Oct. 6 in Huntington Beach, Calif. and features a performance by The Circle - consisting of Anthony, Jason Bonham and Vic Johnson - along with REO Speedwagon, Joe Satriani and Vince Neil.
"You want to hear the craziest thing? We invited Roth, offered to hire Roth to come and jam with my band at the festival in Huntington Beach," Hagar says. "And you know what his guy said? 'Oh, sounds interesting. We'll run it past Dave.' Then radio silence. [laughs]."
The last time Van Halen toured with Hagar was on the ill-fated reunion jaunt in 2004, which the singer detailed in his 2011 autobiography Red: My Uncensored Life in Rock. The group has been back with Roth since 2007 with Eddie Van Halen's son Wolfgang handling bass duties.
Sammy Hagar + Chad Smith Talk Charitable Efforts + Chickenfoot Beginnings
Van Halen Albums Ranked