Recommendations of the Editorial team
We caught up with Sammy Hagar to get his thoughts on five songs he wishes he had written himself.
Peter Gabriel, “Sledgehammer”
That’s so clever. When I write a song about sex, like “Poundcake,” it’s so damn obvious. Peter gives it a twist that makes it sound cute.
Bruce Springsteen, “Born in the USA”
I know it’s a protest song, but the twist I would have given it would probably have been a little more pro-American.
Pink Floyd, “Comfortably Numb”
David Gilmour’s voice and guitar playing are just so soulful. When he hits the first note of the guitar solo, it’s just ice cold to the core.
Simon and Garfunkel, “Bridge Over Troubled Water”
For all sorts of reasons I wish I had written that song, but I don’t think I have it in me. It’s like going to school and church at the same time.
Kings of Leon, “Sex on Fire”
The chorus is just so damn awesome and passionate. When I hear it, it really touches me. I don’t even know what the damn song is about, but I don’t need to know.
Sammy Hagar and Eddie Van Halen: This is how the big reconciliation happened shortly before Eddie’s death
If Sammy Hagar is to be believed, there was no longer any bad blood between him and Eddie Van Halen before his death. In a letter to radio legend Howard Stern, the musician said: “I would like to share that Eddie and I have been writing to each other since the beginning of the year and have had nothing but love for each other ever since.”
In his tribute broadcast to the late guitar virtuoso on October 7, 2020, Stern read, among other things, a letter from former Van Halen singer Sammy Hagar. In fact, the once-quarreling musicians decided by mutual consent to keep their reconciliation secret from the public. “We want to prevent rumors of a possible reunion from spreading and we both knew that would inevitably happen,” said Hagar.
Watch Howard Stern’s “Eddie Van Halen” tribute show stream here:
Furthermore, Van Halen wanted to avoid the public finding out about his health condition. “About a month ago he suddenly stopped answering me,” Hagar remembers, “and I thought to myself that that couldn’t mean anything good. I tried to reach him a few more times last week and when he didn’t answer again, I knew it was only a matter of time. Still, it happened far too quickly.”
“Eddie had changed and just wasn’t the same person anymore.”
Hagar replaced David Lee Roth as Van Halen’s vocalist in 1985 and went on to record four number one albums with the band. In 1996 he finally left the band after internal disputes and the attempt at a reunion tour in 2004 also failed miserably. Rumor has it that the relationship between Hagar and Van Halen was so bad towards the end of the tour that the two had to travel on two different planes. During the final show in Tuscon, Arizona, Van Halen smashed his guitar on stage, sending some pieces flying into the audience. According to Hagar, that was the moment when he realized “Eddie had changed and just wasn’t the same person anymore.”
The situation worsened over the years and reached its climax when Van Halen claimed in an interview in 2015 that he had to re-teach ex-Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony the same basslines before every tour. “Michael Anthony is a bad motherfucker,” Hagar was upset at the time over the guitar icon’s claims, “f*** you, Eddie Van Halen, for saying that about Mikey. You’re a liar!”
Reconciliation via Twitter
Just a year later, Hagar wished Van Halen a happy birthday via Twitter and received a friendly response. After David Bowie and Glenn Frey died in quick succession, Hagar had to realize that he Under no circumstances did he want to take his grudge against Van Halen to the grave.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CGA9sM1plYF/?utm_source=ig_embed
From that moment on, things seem to have gone from strength to strength between the two former feuders. Van Halen finally died of complications from cancer on October 6, 2020 in Santa Monica, California. He was 65 years old. Hagar said goodbye to his long-time companion via Instagram: “My heart is broken and I am speechless. All my love goes to his family.”
