Sammy Hagar says he “would’ve tried harder” to reconnect if he knew more about Eddie Van Halen’s health struggles
guigSammy Hagar has opened up about how he “would’ve tried harder” to reconnect with Eddie Van Halen, if he had understood more about what the guitarist was going through during the band’s 2004 tour.
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In a recent interview with The Arizona Republic, the former Van Halen vocalist has reflected on Eddie Van Halen’s mental struggles – and how he hid them behind drugs and alcohol throughout that ill-fated 2004 World Tour.
The tour saw Hagar rejoining the Van Halen ranks after eight years – but it was a disaster. “I was so disappointed and, honestly, hurt by the way that thing went down in 2004,” he admits.
“I was hoping that was gonna be the greatest thing ever, the beginning of a whole new chapter of getting together, writing songs, making great records again and being in the biggest, greatest band in the world,” he continues. “It didn’t turn out that way.”
Eddie was fully consumed by his addictions, inebriated every night. In a 2016 interview with AXS TV, Hagar explained that Eddie was “completely whacked out off the charts on alcohol and drugs.”
Hagar was horrified by 2004 Eddie, claiming that he “thought [Eddie] was going to die.”
“I’ve never met a person like that in my life,” he remembered. “[He tried] to bust windows out of a G5 airplane at 4,000 feet with a wine bottle… It was horrible. He did horrible things to people. He treated people so badly… he was a complete raving maniac.”
Things were so bad that Hagar actually planned to drop out of the tour. Unfortunately, his contract made it impossible; he would have to financially compensate for any losses in revenue if the tour had to be pulled.
Nowaday, Hagar is more mindful of Eddie’s mental state at the time. “No one knew quite what was going on with the guy,” he mournfully tells The Arizona Republic. “Now we know, and it’s a little bit easier to understand his frustrations and probably why he was turning to alcohol and drugs more than ever.”
“I almost wish I would’ve known a little more about what was going on with him,” Hagar continues. “I tried as hard as I could to connect us, get him on the good foot and get him healthy. But I would’ve tried harder, maybe been a little more compassionate, instead of saying “fuck it.”
“He knew things that we didn’t know, or was feeling things we didn’t know,” he concludes. “God bless him.”
While Eddie passed away in 2020 after a battle with throat cancer, Hagar is keeping his spirit alive with The Best Of All Worlds tour. Currently in full swing, the tour is honouring Van Halen classics with the help of Joe Satriani, Jason Bonham and Michael Anthony.
Hagar contacted both Alex Van Halen and David Lee Roth in regards to the tour, to no avail. Speaking to Ultimate Classic Guitar, Hagar admitted that he’d received no response from Alex. On Sirius XM’s Eddie Trunk Podcast, he also confirmed that Lee Roth “went AWOL” after receiving his invite.
While it’s certainly a shame, the tour is seemingly a success. The band is certainly a formidable gang of rockers – and Satriani is smashing it.
“Joe Satriani is the most elegant, sophisticated, high-level musician that could do what he’s doing,” Hagar enthuses. “He’s walking this tightrope of respecting and honouring Eddie Van Halen’s guitar playing while still being himself… He’s giving you the essence of what he really is.”
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