Sammy Hagar imagined what it would be like if he and David Lee Roth were friends, imagining the pair taking an island cruise.
While the Van Halen singers have endured strained relations over the years, recent comments about the ghost of Eddie Van Halen appeared to suggest a change of heart.
In 2022 Hagar said the late guitarist had visited him and helped him write the song “Encore, Thank You, Goodnight.” Roth followed those comments in August 2025 by telling a concert audience that he, too, had seen Van Halen’s spirit.
READ MORE: Sammy Hagar Celebrates Van Halen With ‘The Residency’ Live Album
While Roth’s words appeared to gently mock Hagar’s, the Red Rocker was impressed by the warmth and quality of the story, as he told Eddie Trunk in a recent edition of Trunk Nation on SiriusXM (audio below).
“To me, it was, like, ‘Wow, Dave actually became cool for a minute about me,’” Hagar said. “And I think he and I can be friends. Honestly, I would love to be friends with Dave. He’s the wackiest guy.
“In my opinion, he’d be a blast to hang with. Get on a boat and go cruising around in the islands or something with that guy and some of our friends and stuff.”
He argued: “We’ve got so much in common and so much history together, if you think about it. We both spent 10 years of our lives with Van Halen… we wrote songs with [Eddie]. … We’re totally two different kinds of people, but that’s what makes it fun. The people around us would be having more fun!”
Referring to Roth’s onstage chat, Hagar added: “He’s a good storyteller. And I just thought it was wonderful that he actually said, ‘You know, Sammy Hagar, the guy’s got a great voice,’ or something like that. He said, ‘And he’s got a good catalog.’ Whoa, Dave, right on, brother!”
Sammy Hagar Disappointed Himself at Ozzy Osbourne Farewell Show
Elsewhere in the interview, Hagar recalled taking part in Ozzy Osbourne’s final show, admitting that he’d messed up his performance of Osbourne track “Flying High Again” at the concert in July.
“I was very disappointed in myself,” he said. “I said, ‘I don’t [want a] teleprompter; I never use teleprompters.’ … they said, ‘Well, we’ll put it up there just in case.’ … I thought I had it memorized.”
While he was waiting to go on, he became lost in conversation with a group of people. “All of a sudden I hear them announce me, and I was 50 yards from the stage! … I go running out, and I’m walking around.
“They start the song… I step out on the ramp and I go, ‘Holy shit!’ I missed that whole thing! And I’m running back looking for the fricking teleprompter. And of course, the lyrics are moving faster than I’m singing them!”
He continued: “I got it together after that. But, man, if you wanna talk about having your private parts shrink up… I choked.” But he added: “That song was great… after we got it going. And the band came in backwards on the intro too, and so it was even crazier!”
The Best Song From Every Sammy Hagar Album
Solo or in a group, he proves there’s more than one way to rock.
Gallery Credit: Matthew Wilkening
