After Van Halen parted ways with Sammy Hagar, the band considered Mitch Malloy as their new lead singer. Together, they demoed a song called ‘It’s the Right Time.’ However, Malloy was dissatisfied with the band’s direction and chose not to join. This decision eventually led to the hiring of Gary Cherone and the release of ‘Van Halen III.’
Now, Malloy has released a new version of ‘It’s the Right Time’ on his YouTube channel. The video includes a series of photos. One of these pictures shows a fax supposedly sent to Van Halen’s management in September 1996, where Malloy declines the opportunity to become the band’s frontman.
In the comments, Malloy shared his frustration about being left out of Van Halen’s history. “Yeah and I should be able to benefit from the art I worked my entire life to perfect. What person doesn’t get promoted for their accomplishments? In America thats how it’s supposed to work. Instead of being celebrated as Van Halen’s first choice to replace Sam I’m left with sticking up for myself. It’s not right and it’s not fair to me. And I’m kinda pissed.”
“Anyone else would not have had handled this as well as I have. Ed told me that last time I saw him. I just wish in the end he’d told the press the truth. So I don’t have to. I wish no one knew to be honest. But since they do they should be able to hear the result. You’re welcome,” he added.
He continued in another comment, “Well the music for III he presented me was ahh… Not inspiring enough for me to even make songs out of. But we had wicked chemistry as you can hear. So we would have grown into a bad as writing team for sure. I’m extremely melodic as you can hear as this is his music but all my melody and lyric so really 75% my song. I would have encouraged some of his heavy side but you never know. Of course the riffs and chords came from him. He was a master of that.”
“I would have tried to take a nod from Dave as well as I LOVE the first few records. Obviously I was never gonna sound like Dave though but thats ok too. It would have been great I’m sure of it.. Of course not everyone would have thought so. But we would have,” he added.
When it comes to why he turned down the offer to be the band’s possible frontman, Malloy decided to give up on the idea after seeing the band appear alongside David Lee Roth at the 1996 MTV Video Music Awards. Following the event, Malloy informed the band of his decision to reject the offer through a letter, which he claimed was suggested by Jack Russell, the lead singer of Great White.
“He never did tell me though that they were gonna present with David Lee Roth. I was back in Nashville and turned on the TV to watch. They came out, and Dave came out too,” the singer said of what pushed him away from Van Halen. “I was like, ‘What? My jaw just dropped. I was like, ‘Why are they with Dave?’”
“This’s not good for me. The whole world thought that Dave was back in the band and wanted Dave in the band,” he added. “I wanted Dave back in the band. I mean, I grew up on Van Halen with Dave in it. Those first albums were amazing. It did it what they are today. When I saw Dave come out with them, that was it for me. That was over.”
This situation caused tension between Malloy and Eddie Van Halen, although their relationship improved when Malloy attended Van Halen’s 1998 concert in Nashville with Gary Cherone. Still, their communication eventually faded after Malloy once again turned down Eddie’s indirect offer to join the band.