Fox News reports:
Alex Van Halen has some thoughts about former bandmate Sammy Hagar.
During an interview with Brazilian music journalist Marcelo Vieira published earlier this month, Van Halen ripped into Hagar when asked about his 2011 memoir, Red: My Uncensored Life in Rock.
“I don’t know what he wrote, and I don’t wanna know,” he said, according to a translation from the original Portuguese interview published by Roadie Crew. “In my opinion, Sammy Hagar is a complete idiot.”
Hagar has since responded to the insult, writing in an Instagram comment over the weekend, “This comment and post is so unnecessary at this time in our lives, but I guess the truth hurts sometimes. Peace already.”
The latest jab comes after years of tension between the former bandmates, who have not spoken in more than two decades, according to Hagar.
A representative for Van Halen did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Van Halen previously rejected an invitation to join Hagar and former Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony for their 2024 Best of All Worlds tour, which mainly celebrates the Hagar music era of the band.
“I’m not interested,” Van Halen told Billboard at the time. “They’re not doing the band justice. They can do what they want to do. That’s not my business.”
Van Halen also largely focused on Van Halen’s original lineup with David Lee Roth in his 2024 memoir, Brothers, while largely omitting Hagar’s decade-long run with the band.
“What happened after Dave left is not the same band,” Van Halen told Billboard while promoting the book. “I’m not saying it was better or worse or any of that.… But the magic was in the first years, when we didn’t know what we were doing, when we were willing to try anything.”
Earlier this year, Hagar suggested he would “never play” with Van Halen again more than 20 years after their last tour together.
“I’m the biggest Pink Floyd fan. I see David Gilmour say, ‘I will never play with Roger Waters again,’ and I know what he means,” the 78-year-old told Classic Rock. “I feel that way about Alex Van Halen. They’re negative people.”
Hagar, who replaced Roth as lead singer of Van Halen in 1985, remained with the band until 1996. He later reunited with the group in 2004 for a reunion tour.
The singer has suggested that Van Halen‘s health problems and inability or unwillingness to continue playing drums may have contributed to the tension. Hagar speculated that Van Halen could be frustrated that he and Anthony continue to perform Van Halen songs while the drummer is no longer touring.
Hagar told Rolling Stone in April 2025 that he and Alex had not spoken in 21 years.
“I hate to say it, but I dreamt about Alex the other night, man,” he told the magazine. “It was crazy. And it was so friggin’ real. I was saying, ‘What are you p—ed off at me about, man? What the f—? Now, just tell me what your problem is. What did I do? Just tell me.’”
Hagar said he thinks Van Halen is upset with him “because I’m out doing it, and Mike [Anthony] and I are 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.”
“Alex wasn’t the songwriter in the band,” he continued. “He was the drummer. Eddie [Van Halen] and I wrote the songs. Dave [Lee Roth] and Eddie wrote the songs, and so we can go out and do them. And I think that really bothers him that Mike and I are still out there doing it. I would feel bad. If I put myself in his shoes, I would feel terrible if I couldn’t do it anymore.”
Van Halen‘s criticism also follows Hagar’s previous claims that he tried repeatedly to reconnect with his former bandmate, including while assembling the Best of All Worlds tour. Hagar said he and Anthony reached out to Van Halen “a dozen times” before the tour but received no response.
15 Responses
I think what Hagar fails to realize, is that I don’t believe Van Halen is jealous at all, what he is, is angry about betrayal.
He probably feels that Hagar should not have written about Eddie‘s alcoholism without his permission. that was Van Halen‘s story to tell NOT Hagar‘s.
Although, Hagar was able to make peace with Eddie, before he passed, it seems Alex is a different animal. He is clearly not interested in burying the hatchet…unless it is in Hagar‘s head. Clearly, I am being facetious, but on a serious note, his big brother protective energy is what is keeping Alex‘s ire up. Hagar will just have no choice but to accept that he made a big mistake, and while the person he directly offended forgave him, Alex may never reach that place.
Hopefully, Hagar has learned a valuable, although painful lesson from this unfortunate situation. A little discernment and discretion is always a good idea when one doesn’t have permission to “speak” on another’s behalf.
Hi Dana
Can I counter what you said?
Everybody knew about Eddie’s problems. Go and see the footage online from the 2004 reunion – it’s a very sad and sorry state to see him in, but Eddie was out of his tree the whole time. Playing the wrong songs, playing what he thought was the way things went…so on and so forth.
I’m not going to attack Alex here for saying what he’s said. The reason he has taken this line is, I believe, very simple: He hasn’t and seemingly cannot come to terms with the fact that Eddie isn’t here anymore. Alex is the last Van Halen standing – he was and is the older of the two. Eddie was his little brother. Grief hits people in many different ways. I’m currently looking out for and supporting a wonderful girl I work with due to some personal issues. She lost her brother three years ago very, very suddenly – and it’s still eating away at her everyday.
They say that time is a healer – but how much time is the real question.
Hello my British Bud,
Thank you for the tip, but I personally don’t want to watch the footage of Eddie being smashed.
Firstly, I was never a fan of the Van Hagar lineup, so the material being played would be of little interest to me, and secondly, who wants to see Van Halen in that condition?
Van Halen‘s public displays of addiction aside, I don’t recall exactly what Hagar wrote in his book, as I did not read it, nor remember what excerpts were posted online. However, it must have been pretty detrimental, to have illicit the response it did.
Also, remember the more salacious and controversial a book is, the more publicity is generated and the more money it makes. So, there is also that angle about what he chose to divulge.
It’s a very sore topic for all involved, including the fans. So, just like Simmons who cannot seem to temper his comments about his former bandmates, one of whom isn’t even here anymore to defend himself, they all need to move on.
My only supposition, is that when they are asked, it reopens old wounds and it is difficult for them not to purge themselves of their feelings? Perhaps, they should all go into group therapy and just get it all out once and for all. 😉
.
So before I run into work, all I have to say is two wrongs don’t make a right, did Hagar go to far in his book? Yes! He even admitted it, he made a mistake, no excuses and I’m not defending him, but he was still bitter about the way he was treated in ’96 when the brothers decided to give Roth another chance (that lasted 5 minutes?) Good choice that was! And then again in 2004, obviously old wounds never healed. As we all know there’s always 2 sides to every story, Hagar f–ked up by crossing the line with his book, I’m just glad he and Eddie buried the hatchet before Eddie passed, too bad Al can’t move on already and do the same thing.
AVH is correct….Sammy Hagar is an idiot. EVH’s struggles with alcohol was not Hagar’s story to tell. Time for Hagar to simply move on cuz he burned his bridge with AVH.
Clearly the motive here is to increase sales of both of their books. What other reason do people have to fight in the public eye vs picking up the phone or meeting in person and in private to get their feelings off their chest. Money is th root of all evil. I’m not falling for it anymore and will not be purchasing either of these guys’ silly books.
I laughed out loud for a solid 45 seconds at this, wet face and all. Sammy Hagar is, indeed, an idiot. My views as to why is I have never felt one genuine feeling coming off of Sammy. When Roth would be showy with his words, I knew it was just Dave being who he is, an entertainer. Sam ruined Van Halen. Sappy and crappy songs. He couldn’t even make a song that was supposed to kick ass, like Get Up, awesome. It went from The Mighty Van Halen to the Mousie Van Hagar. Yeesh. He isn’t cool, either. That matters when you are an entertainer. It seems everyone AROUND Sam has some form of cool or swagger. He won’t be remembered for anything more than being the replacement for Dave. So, for ruining Van Halen: Idiot.
Hi Mr. RN’R,
While I am not a fan of any of the alternate Van Halen lineups, you cannot blame Hagar for the direction of the band, that was Eddie‘s decision.
I have read several books, as well as feature articles over the years, and it was always acknowledged that Eddie wanted to take the band in a far more commercial direction, as evidenced by Jump on 1984. Roth was completely against the idea, and that is what ultimately lead to his decision, to leave the band. The irony of it all, is that Roth‘s first solo material were two highly commercial cover songs, but I digress…
Furthermore, consider the singers that Eddie originally wanted to replace Roth before settling on Hagar: Patty Smyth and Daryl Hall. Neither of them would be able to pull off being a badass like Roth. So, you could see this was the plan regardless of hiring Hagar.
Also, in Hagar‘s defense, for his age, he can still, God bless him, deliver. I saw the Best Of Both Worlds initial tour, and I was really impressed by him.
Finally, I will close by stating, in my humble opinion, Roth‘s Eat ‘Em and Smile lineup was far superior to Van Hagar, the end-LOL!
Cheers.
For the millionth time, Hagar DID NOT ruin Van Halen, he saved VH!! And every single song he wrote with Eddie was with Eddie at Eddie’s studio (5150) AND AT EDDIE’S REQUEST AND APPROVAL! EDDIE gave Sammy the music and his ideas and asked Sammy to write the lyrics to his music, all Sammy did was what Eddie ASKED HIM to do! Why is that so hard to understand and comprehend?? Stop blaming Sammy for the direction VH went in after he joined the band because it was EDDIE who called all the shots!!
Hi D,
I wrote the same thing, however, I would not at all agree Hagar SAVED Van Halen, that is a bit hyperbolic, to say the least. Compared to how I would imagine Smyth or Hall would have shaped the sound, perhaps?
However, had they not parted ways with Roth, they would have continued to be a great band. While they may have had less charted hits with Roth, the material was far superior, not even close.
I can count the Van Hagar songs that I genuinely like on one hand: Finish What Ya Started, Runaround, Poundcake and ONLY the chorus of The Best Of Both Worlds, that’s really it…
Well while I love Daryl Hall/Hall & Oates, I could only imagine what kind of lyrics Hall would’ve come up with for Eddie’s music, because Hall was all pop, which absolutely worked for him, and Smyth? Yea, ok, what a match that would’ve been! That really would’ve worked (eye roll) Eddie challenged Sammy’s creativity and being under that kind of pressure and scrutiny I think Sammy did a hell of a job! He could have stayed a solo artist coming off of his most successful album and tour in ’84, but he gave it up to join VH, and thank God he did! Otherwise we would’ve had Van Hall, or Van Smyth! Lol Goodbye to Runnin’ With The Devil!
Yes, I would imagine Van Smyth would have been a disaster.
Dana, hi! There hasn’t been availability on my end to hit reply to you specifically for any of your comments. I hope it’s ok I did it this way. Unless I missed something. I stand corrected. I never knew Eddie wanted that. I figured the change was to fit Hagar’s vocal style, balls-free. I completely gave up on the band after hearing the 5150 record, even though I attended the New Haven show due to a girl I was dating. It wasn’t worth it, it was a nightmare. Not her, the show lol. I felt like I was in an alternate reality. And I agree with you about Roth’s ’86 lineup, definitely better! That show was fantastic. I did hear about the Patty Smythe thing back then, but I dismissed it as a joke…! Wow, that would’ve been horrible lol. I like her, but not for VH. So, thank you for educating me about all of that, I appreciate it very much. The real end! 🙂
There is no need to thank me, but yes, we both agree Smyth would have been a very poor choice as a replacement for Roth.
Also, I am sorry that your experience seeing the 5150 show was so painful. There is nothing worse than being stuck at a concert, movie, play, sporting event or any form of recreation, or otherwise, that you don’t want to be at, it can very unpleasant.