Alex Van Halen threw shade at Sammy Hagar in his latest interview with The Guardian.
The drummer thinks Van Halen’s spirit died when David Lee Roth left. That’s why he ended his new book, ‘Brothers,’ in 1985. Even though the band had great success with Hagar as the new singer, Hagar later wrote a harsh book about his time with them.
In response to Hagar’s complaints, Alex said, “‘Are you really that jealous of Ed? Are you really that scared of him?’ That’s how people act when they try to diminish somebody.”
‘Brothers’ doesn’t include Hagar’s time in Van Halen from 1985 to 1996 or their three years working with Extreme vocalist Gary Cherone. Alex recently told Billboard, “What happened after Dave left is not the same band. I’m not saying it was better or worse of any of that. …But the magic was in the first years, when we didn’t know what we were doing, when we were willing to try anything.”
Hagar also spoke about Van Halen ignoring him in the Van Halen legacy. The Red Rocker recently shared some photos from Rock Hall rehearsals and wrote, “Cool x Kool & the Gang at Rock Hall rehearsals. (Scroll) Gettin’ ready to celebrate and induct some old friends and legends tonight.”
“Alex Van Halen doesn’t mention you once in his book,” a user told the singer in the comment section. “So strange?” Hagar responded to the fan.
In the same interview with Billboard, the drummer also explained why he turned down the chance to join his former bandmates on The Best Of All Worlds tour this year, fronted by Hagar. He revealed, “I’m not interested. They’re not doing the band justice. They can do what they want to do. That’s not my business.”
In August, Hagar told the Las Vegas Journal that he tried to reach out to Alex many times to see if he would join the tour. Sammy said, “I reached out to Alex a dozen times, before this tour was announced, and got no response. I mean, I’ve asked him to meet me under any conditions, any circumstances, anytime, anyplace, anywhere. It’s not like, ‘Well, let me think about it.’ It’s like, no answer. Zero.”
Still, Van Halen fans reacted to drummer Alex’s comments about other members not doing the band justice. Many fans expressed their frustration on social media. They criticized Alex and suggested he should have participated more.