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Though Sammy Hagar<\/a> and Eddie Van Halen<\/a> mended fences before the guitarist’s death<\/a>, Hagar has remained estranged from Van Halen<\/a> drummer Alex Van Halen<\/a> and during a discussion with Rolling Stone<\/em><\/a> he revealed why he thinks the drummer has shunned communication with him.<\/p>\n In the aftermath of Eddie Van Halen’s death, the divide between Sammy Hagar and Alex Van Halen has remained. The onetime bandmates haven’t spoken in 21 years and the drummer even failed to mention Hagar by name in his recent memoir. So why has the relationship remained so frosty?<\/p>\n When the Rolling Stone<\/em> interviewer suggested that Hagar’s past memoir might not have set well with Alex, Hagar countered that he felt it might have been another reason.<\/p>\n “I\u2019ve had this conversation with a few people, including [former manager] Irving Azoff. I\u2019ve asked him, ‘What\u2019s the problem?’ And some people have said to me, ‘Oh, Cabo Wabo.’ At one time, Van Halen, when you built it, you guys were all partners in that. And then they didn\u2019t want it anymore when it was losing money, and they gave it to you, and you turned it around and made hundreds of millions of dollars on it. And they\u2019re angry. Alex is angry about that.’\u201d<\/p>\n Hagar said he hopes that’s not the case, adding, “How the fuck could they be angry about that? They gave me the damn thing, they walked out on me, left me with it. And they made me indemnify them in case I got sued and lost everything. They made me sign off big time.\u201d<\/p>\n In 2024, Hagar recalled their Cabo Wabo venture being a bone of contention, enough so that he was banned from wearing Cabo Wabo clothing onstage<\/a> during their 2004 reunion run.<\/p>\n READ MORE:<\/strong> Sammy Hagar Says He Makes More Money From Alcohol Than Music<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n “At the time they didn’t care [about Cabo Wabo],” Hagar explained in his book Red: My Uncensored Life in Rock<\/em>. “But by the reunion, the tequila was everywhere and people were always coming up and talking about the cantina. It drove them nuts.”<\/p>\n According to Hagar, the Van Halen brothers went to great lengths to keep Hagar’s brand name off their stage. “They put it in the contract that I could not wear any Cabo Wabo T-shirts onstage or mention anything about the tequila or the cantina on the mic.”<\/p>\n In response to the band, Hagar recalled getting a Cabo Wabo tattoo on his shoulder. He would then hide the tattoo during rehearsals with long-sleeved clothing but he lost the long sleeves during the show with the tattoo visible on the concert big screens as they played.<\/p>\n As for the possibility that it might be the memoir, Hagar says, “The book has been brought up. The book was honest. It was well documented that Eddie was a mess on that tour. But I don\u2019t want to drag Eddie through no coals now. That\u2019s just water under the bridge.”<\/p>\n The former Van Halen singer says there’s one other possibility on why Van Halen has cut him off, adding, “I think Al\u2019s angry because I\u2019m out doing it, and Mike [Anthony] and I are out doing it, and he can\u2019t. He\u2019s not a singer. He\u2019s not a guitar player. He is not really a band leader. And he seems like he doesn\u2019t want to play drums or can\u2019t play drums anymore, and he can\u2019t go write a new record. Alex wasn\u2019t the songwriter in the band. He was the drummer. Eddie and I wrote the songs. Dave and Eddie wrote the songs, and so we can go out and do them.”<\/p>\n “I think that really bothers him that Mike and I are still out there doing it,” continued Hagar. “I would feel bad. If I put myself in his shoes, I would feel terrible if I couldn\u2019t do it anymore.\u00a0But I\u2019m the happiest guy out of all of them. That pisses people off in itself. Being too happy, people don\u2019t like that.”<\/span><\/p>\n He concludes of the lack of relationship with the drummer, “I\u2019m okay with it. Al, you\u2019re fine. Just leave me alone. I\u2019ll leave you alone. Everything\u2019s good. I\u2019m making you money, by the way, Al. I\u2019m out there selling Van Halen records and keeping the name alive, keeping the music alive.”<\/p>\n While much has been made about Sammy Hagar’s new song “Encore, Thank You, Goodnight” being inspired by a dream about Eddie Van Halen, Hagar admits he’s had an Alex Van Halen dream as well.<\/p>\n \u201cI hate to say it, but I dreamt about Alex the other night, man,\u201d he says. \u201cIt was crazy. And it was so friggin\u2019 real. I was saying, \u2018What 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.’\u201d<\/p>\n Hagar says the dream version of Alex laughed at him.\u00a0\u201cIt was kind of a friendly laugh,\u201d says Hagar. \u201cAnd he goes, \u2018You really don\u2019t know, do you?\u2019 And I said, \u2018No, I don\u2019t.\u2019 And so then it became this game, and he was saying, \u2018Well, I\u2019ll tell you what, let\u2019s flip a coin, and heads, I\u2019ll tell you, tails, suffer.\u2019 Now that\u2019s a fucking pretty realistic dream.\u201d<\/p>\n Do you know your ABCs of Rock? We hope so as there are well known rock bands for every single letter of the alphabet.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Gallery Credit: Chad Childers, Loudwire<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nThe Divide Between Alex Van Halen and Sammy Hagar<\/h3>\n
Sammy Hagar Offers One More Possibility on Alex Van Halen’s Anger Toward Him<\/h3>\n
Sammy Hagar’s Alex Van Halen Dream<\/h3>\n
The ABCs of Rock – The Best Rock Band for Each Letter of the Alphabet<\/h2>\n