SAMMY HAGAR: EDDIE VAN HALEN 'Wants To Be A Miserable Human Being'

Sammy Hagar spoke to Doug Podell of Detroit's WRIF 101.1 FM earlier this month about the current status of VAN HALEN and his upcoming solo album, tentatively due in early 2006. When asked to comment on the rumors that VAN HALEN may once again have been shelved following reports of internal disagreements, Hagar said, "It's really a shame… I don't know what happened. But, you know, Eddie [Van Halen] and I… everybody knows… I thought it was gonna be OK, and it wasn't OK. We did some great shows — don't get me wrong; we did some amazing shows in the Detroit area and some [other] places — but there were times off stage when him and I were… they were holding us back. We don't get along anymore. This guy… I'm sure he'd tell you a whole different story, but from my perspective, he doesn't know how to have fun, he doesn't wanna have fun, he wants to be a miserable human being and make everyone around him miserable. He just goes around firing people, and he tried to fire some of my people, [and I went], 'Get the hell outta here, man. This guy works for me, not you.' He's not any fun to be around. David Lee Roth was more fun to be around. [laughs] Unless he changes to where Mike [Anthony] and I can even handle being around… His brother can't even stand to be around him, but his brother is his brother, so he goes over and tries to deal with him all the time. If the guy wants to come around and say, 'Hey, look, let's go back to being friends and being happy musicians and playing music for the people,' and get rid of these $150, $200 dollar ticket prices and all this crap, then we could probably do it again. But I would never do it again for those prices — never ever ever. And I can say never ever ever. People say, 'Don't ever say never.' Well, I'm saying it. [laughs] but that's part of the deal. And the other thing, I wouldn’t do it unless we could become friends, and he's gotta change, 'cause I'm happy — I'm having a blast."