Sammy Hagar opened up about Van Halen’s 2004 reunion tour in a recent chat with AXS TV. He described it as the worst experience of his life and highlighted Eddie Van Halen’s struggles with addiction as a reason:
“It was horrible. He did horrible things to people. He treated people so bad. He was a complete raving maniac. I’ve never met a person like this in my life… trying to bust windows out of a G5 airplane at 4,000 feet with a wine bottle… it ain’t even our plane, it’s a rental plane!”
Hagar wanted to leave the tour halfway through the 80 dates but couldn’t because his contract would force him to pay for the lost revenues if he did. Despite the issues, the singer said of the late guitarist:
“But Eddie’s a sweet human being. He’s talented and he’s a sweet wonderful guy. He’s got some demons you know… he’s not the only person I know like that but when I saw those demons take over him it was pitiful.”
Hagar Worked Well With The Late Guitarist
Sammy Hagar played four albums during his run in Van Halen and co-wrote several songs including ‘Why Can’t This Be Love’ and ‘When It’s Love’ with Eddie Van Halen.
The vocalist previously admitted to working better with his ex-bandmate than solo. He told Variety:
“Not to beat my chest or anything, but I’m a real easy guy to work with. I really don’t have an ego when it comes to music. I’m always better with other people, I’ll be the first to admit. I personally know that when I write songs with Eddie [Van Halen] or Joe [Satriani], they were better than what I could do myself.”
Hagar will soon be on the road for his The Best of All Worlds Tour. Michael Anthony, Joe Satriani, and Jason Bonham will join him to play Van Halen classics starting on July 13.