SAMMY HAGAR: EDDIE VAN HALEN Has Lost Touch

September 5, 2003

Former VAN HALEN singer Sammy Hagar recently spoke to Goldmine magazine about frequent jam partner/VH bassist Michael Anthony's views on the current VAN HALEN situation. "[Michael is] basically like everyone else out there," Hagar said. "He's completely lost touch with any of the VAN HALEN situation. He hasn't talked to any of those guys in maybe, I dunno, a year? Him and I are close now so I know all this stuff. It's basically, there is not a VAN HALEN. I mean, I hate to break the news to all these people (laughs),but there is not. Michael Anthony plays with me part time, and if it wasn't for me just being crazy about my wonderful bass player Mona, who I think is the greatest, Mike would be in my band right now. And as far as I'm concerned, if there's no Sammy, no Mike, or no David Lee Roth in VAN HALEN, then there's Eddie and Alex Van Halen, and that is not VAN HALEN. I'm sure they're capable of putting together a great band, or doing great solo projects, whatever they decide to do. But I don't think that the world is going to buy it as VAN HALEN without at least two or more of the original kind of members. So there really is no VAN HALEN.

When asked about former VAN HALEN manager Ray Danniels' statement that part of the problem was that VAN HALEN guitarist Eddie Van Halen has been a rock star all his life and he's lost touch, Hagar said, "Oh really? (laughs) That's an understatement. (laughs) He HAS lost touch. Otherwise, he'd be playing music. I mean this guy is a great musician. Not only does he play unbelievable guitar, he plays unbelievable keyboards of any kind and probably could play any instrument he puts his hands on. And the guy hasn't played music for I don't know how long. Something is really wrong. But yes, I'm really down on Eddie for wasting his life. I mean, maybe I don't know everything, but to me, you're a musician you're a famous and a great one. And your fans have been so loyal to you, you have to at least go and give a little bit. I mean, you can't be self-indulgent like that. You got a problem? OK then at least let them know, 'Hey, I can't play music right now.' You know, every time Eddie makes a statement on their web site, it's like 'Yeah, be watchin' man... VAN HALEN's coming out with something new real soon! Any day now." You watch it,' and it's like, PFFT. I mean, lying to people is not cool."

Find more on

Prev More News Next

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).