Sammy Hagar spent a total of 13 years with the legendary Van Halen, though the first 11 of that was the more important period. The band had four No. 1 albums in that first span of time, but drummer Alex Van Halen likes to pretend Hagar was never a part of the group.
Asked about the issue recently, Hagar gave a fairly long answer, but two words stood out the most: "That's weird."
Talking on the Eddie Trunk show on SiriusXM this week, Hagar said, "I want to call Alex out and say, 'Dude, we all know you act like there was never a Sammy Hagar. You act like there was never a 'Van Hagar.' We sold 40-some million records (with) four No. 1 albums, and you just scratch that off of your brother's legacy, saying no, that never happened. You don't even want to acknowledge it. That's deep. That's weird.'"
Sammy Hagar shares thoughts about Alex Van Halen that Alex Van Halen will not share about Hagar
Hagar was referencing, in part, that Alex Van Halen didn't mention Hagar at all in his 2024 autobiography. The singer has a point. That is weird. It is also unfair to the reader of the book and fans.
Maybe Alex VH doesn't like what the band was after initial vocalist David Lee Roth was booted from the band and didn't personally care for Hagar, at least based on his ignoring Hagar since the singer last left the group, but Van Halen did have a high level of commercial success with Hagar as the frontman.
Many fans prefer that edition of Van Halen over the Roth years, too. Not giving any detail about Hagar's involvement, either good or bad, obviously leaves out a lot of interesting information that fans want to know. Putting out a bio is inherently trying to convey one's personal view of facts. The book hopefully sells well, so it is actually more for fans than for the person writing the narrative.
Otherwise, Alex Van Halen could have just kept a diary that never saw the bookshelves of bookstores or could be found on a Kindle. He didn't do that. He produced a work that brought him money. He has a right to say what he wants in his view, but leaving Sammy Hagar out completely when he was in the band for more than a decade is just silly and unfair to those looking for that information.
Many people would probably feel wronged about the situation the way Hagar does. Not that it really matters to Alex Van Halen how Hagar feels, of course. Still, we don't truly know what Alex thinks about Hagar because he won't tell anyone in great detail.
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