Alex Van Halen Says Sammy Hagar Isn’t ‘Doing the Band Justice’

Alex Van Halen has explained why he refused to join his former bandmates Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony on this summer’s Best of All Worlds tour, which was designed as a celebration of Hagar’s time in Van Halen.

“I’m not interested,” Van Halen told Billboard in a new interview promoting his upcoming book Brothers. “They’re not doing the band justice. They can do what they want to do. That’s not my business.”

Brothers focuses almost exclusively on David Lee Roth‘s first era in Van Halen, largely ignoring Hagar’s decade-long run as the group’s lead singer as well as their brief collaboration with Extreme vocalist Gary Cherone. “What happened after Dave left is not the same band,” Van Halen explained. “I’m not saying it was better or worse of 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.”

Van Halen also cautions fans not to expect very much mudslinging in his new book. “It’s not about the dirt. If I start throwing dirt, it’ll never end. I think some people would like that; that’s how projects are sold nowadays. I think it divides the audience, and we’re not here to divide.”

He will promote the book with a pair of East Coast book signings on Oct. 21 and 22nd, and then take part in a live conversation on Oct. 24 at the Frost Auditorium in Culver City, Calif. “People can ask whatever they like – that’s their prerogative,” Van Halen says of the event. “It’s my prerogative to answer. Or not answer.”