Sammy Hagar Invited Alex Van Halen On Tour But Never Got A Response

In the forever-ongoing debate of who was “the problem” in Van Halen that led to the constant in-fighting, and break-ups, we have a new update, courtesy of Ultimate Classic Rock...

Back in November, the Red Rocker went live with this announcement:

Despite Jason Bonham being inked to play drums on the tour, there was a different sticks man that Hagar and Michael Anthony wanted to be behind the kit.

Mike (Anthony) and I reached out to Alex (Van Halen) before we did this. We reached out to him a dozen times before this tour, in every way. Email, text message, phone call, message on the machine, OK? No response. No response. I mean, we made every offer to get together or to just talk or to have breakfast, lunch or dinner. Go to the studio and play. Come to my house or I’ll come to your house. Go ride horses, go sit on the beach. What do you want to do? Let’s just do something. Let’s get together. And nothing. I was saying, ‘He’ll come to a show, he’s got to in L.A. or something. I’m sure he’ll come.’ But no, no, he sold all of his equipment. That was his statement. That was like, ‘Nah, I ain’t coming nowhere.’

—  Sammy Hagar via Ultimate Classic Rock

Sammy acknowledges that Alex and he aren’t friends, and don’t have a relationship, but he also acknowledges that Van Halen was a much a product of Alex, as it was of Eddie, Sammy, Michael, and Dave.

The tour kicks off this week in South Florida, which are the only stops for the Sunshine State on the tour. See all of the dates here.

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