When Sammy Hagar replaced David Lee Roth as Van Halen’s lead vocalist in 1985, it marked one of the biggest and most unexpected shifts in rock music history. Van Halen had just wrapped up the tour for its best-selling album to date, “1984,” while Hagar was returning home from the most successful solo tour of his career for the album “VOA.”
Eddie Van Halen had already cemented his place as one of the greatest guitarists of all time, standing alongside legends like Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin and Jimi Hendrix. However, Roth’s departure to pursue a solo career left the band — Eddie, his brother Alex on drums and Michael Anthony on bass — without a lead singer.
“Well they’re not going to quit, this is Eddie Van Halen, he’s just starting,” Hagar recalled about hearing Roth had left Van Halen in an interview with the Professor of Rock. “I’m thinking, ‘Who could they call? They’re going to call me.’”
Hagar’s premonition was correct. Eddie Van Halen called Hagar from an auto shop after seeing the singer’s Ferrari on the showroom floor.
“I wasn’t thinking I was going to be joining Van Halen, but man when we started playing that music, it was just magic,” Hagar said in a video on his YouTube channel. “It was as if we’d known each other our whole lives.”
It was a changing of the guard for Van Halen. Hagar’s powerful vocals and Eddie Van Halen’s musicianship brought a fresh sound to a band that seemed to have already established its identity — or so fans thought. With Hagar leading the way, Van Halen became the “four-headed monster,” as Rolling Stone magazine proclaimed in 1988.
During Hagar’s tenure with Van Halen from 1986 to 1996, the band released four albums — “5150,” “OU812,” “For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge” and “Balance” — all of which reached number one on the Billboard 200. However, by the time recording sessions began for “Balance” in 1995, Eddie and Hagar’s relationship had deteriorated considerably.
“The tenth year in Van Halen just went sideways,” Hagar said on the Howard Stern Show.
“Our manager died, another manager came in and he started poisoning Ed and Al saying ‘Hey Sammy thinks it’s his band.’”
Despite a 2004 reunion tour, Hagar and Eddie didn’t speak again until 2020, 16 years later. Comedian and Van Halen fan George Lopez connected the two musicians via a phone call when Eddie’s health began to falter due to his long battle with throat cancer.
“I said, ‘Why don’t you respond? I’ve been reaching out,’ and Ed said, ‘Why didn’t you call me? Don’t fucking call my brother, fucking call me!’ ” Hagar recounted. “And I said, ‘I love you, man,’ and it was like, boom, we were good. It was a beautiful thing.”
Sadly, the music world lost Eddie Van Halen on Oct. 6, 2020.
A day later, in a video simply titled “We Love You Eddie,” Hagar and Anthony, in the middle of a multiple-day concert, delivered one last message to their friend.
“What I felt playing a song like ‘Right Now’ that’s so timeless was thank god for this,” Hagar said. “We’ll never play with Eddie again, but thank God for this.”
Without Eddie Van Halen, there is no Van Halen. But the music is forever. Four years after the beloved guitarist’s death, Hagar continues the legacy of not only one of the world’s most popular and successful bands but also his friend.
In late 2023, Hagar announced the “Best of All Worlds Tour” during an interview with Howard Stern. Hagar, joined by Anthony on bass, Joe Satriani on guitar and Jason Bonham on drums, has been touring the United States over the summer and just wrapped up the U.S. leg of the tour. The 24-song setlist goes deep into the Van Halen catalog, celebrating the music that Eddie wrote with Hagar.
Hagar summarized the first leg of the “Best of All Worlds Tour” with a message on his YouTube channel.
“I can’t express enough how impressed I was with the turnouts and the vibe everyone was laying down, singing the songs at the top of your lungs,” Hagar shared. “We thought we were playing deep tracks and it turns out you know those too.”
Bruce Weise • Sep 23, 2024 at 8:04 pm
Us true VH fans never wanted to see it end,Sammy made us proud!
David Gorman • Sep 23, 2024 at 12:25 am
Thanks rockin roll “Saint Sammy Hagar” your the one who puts people in a good mood!
You are greatly appreciated Thanks!
Gary Gallatin • Sep 22, 2024 at 9:45 pm
Sammy is only human and a heart of gold when u a a music star like him I cannot imagine the difficulty of his life and what does a person like him thinks at the last moment before going into sleep mode enjoy a person like him and other rock stars because there fading out faster than we realize rock on Gary gallatin from st charles mo