Sammy Hagar is moving on from the long-standing discourse with his former Van Halen bandmate, Alex Van Halen.
During a recent interview with Rolling Stone, the Red Rocker seemed resigned to the fact that he and the drummer will remain estranged.
“Al, you’re fine. Just leave me alone. I’ll leave you alone. Everything’s good,” Hagar remarked. “I’m making you money, by the way, Al. I’m out there selling Van Halen records and keeping the name alive, keeping the music alive.”
‘Al’s Angry Because I’m Out Doing It’
At several points in the interview, Hagar expressed confusion as to why Alex holds a grudge towards him. The singer theorized that it stems from jealously regarding the state of their current careers.
READ MORE: Sammy Hagar on Alex Van Halen Schism: ‘I Want to Be Friends’
“I think Al’s angry because I’m out doing it, and Mike [Anthony] and I are out doing it, and he can’t,” Hagar explained. “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 was the drummer. Eddie 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.”
The Red Rocker went on to describe himself as “the happiest guy out of all of them. That pisses people off in itself. Being too happy, people don’t like that.”
Sammy Hagar Dreams About Eddie Van Halen… And Alex, Too
Even at 77 years old, Hagar remains very active. The singer’s Best of All Worlds Las Vegas residency – which will largely focus on Van Halen material – kicks off April 30. He also recently released a new song titled “Encore, Thank You, Goodnight,” inspired by a dream he had of Eddie Van Halen. Interestingly, Hagar admitted he had a recent dream about Alex, too.
READ MORE: All 48 Sammy Hagar-Era Van Halen Songs Ranked Worst to Best
“It was crazy. And it was so friggin’ real,” the singer recalled. “I was saying, ‘What are you pissed off at me about, man? What the fuck? Now just tell me what your problem is. What did I do? Just tell me.’”
Dream Alex laughed. “And he goes, ‘You really don’t know, do you?’ And I said, ‘No, I don’t.’ And so then it became this game, and he was saying, ‘Well, I’ll tell you what, let’s flip a coin, and heads, I’ll tell you, tails, suffer.’ Now that’s a fucking pretty realistic dream.”
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Gallery Credit: Matthew Wilkening
