Sammy Hagar on Eddie Van Halen: 'I Don't Hate the Guy, I Love the Guy. I Hate What He Did to Me'

Sammy Hagar on Eddie Van Halen: "I Don't Hate the Guy, I Love the Guy. I Hate What He Did to Me"

By LA Weekly Thu., Mar. 8 2012 at 5:33 AM

Bill Meis

Sammy Hagar with his band Chickenfoot

UPDATE: Bonus footage added. See below.

By Michael Christopher

Last week, Sammy Hagar was in the green room at The Tonight Show, preparing to musical guest with Chickenfoot, his band that dropped its critically acclaimed second album (cheekily titled Chickenfoot III) in September. Host Jay Leno popped in to say hello, and seeing the Red Rocker in the midst of an interview, started squawking. "It's all lies! Don't believe a word!" Given Hagar's former mates in Van Halen have released a bombastic new album with David Lee Roth at the helm titled A Different Kind of Truth, it's an interesting course of joking.

To a fault, Hagar has long been a straight shooter. His 2011 book, Red: My Uncensored Life in Rock, was a no-holds-barred look at professional and personal highs and lows. This spring his tour with Chickenfoot wraps up at the Greek June 10. Candid as ever, Hagar talked about Eddie Van Halen, wanting to be a '70s rock band and those cool jumpsuits he wore in the '80s.

You took a lot of flak for some of the things you put in your book. Were you ever worried that you were being too honest?
There were a lot of times where I said, "I really shouldn't say this." But I felt that my fans, who've been with me all this time, deserved the real story; they need to hear why and understand why I am who I am and why I've become what I've become and how I did it and what I went through for it. I just figured at this stage of my life I'm just gonna tell the whole story. A lot of it had to do with Van Halen; there was always a controversy of who said what and "He did this and he did that," and I wanted to tell the truth about all that.

You told me you haven't heard the new record yet but they are out on tour.
The fact that they're out right now, that's so great; I'm so happy that they're out doing it -- but look how long it took. It's so dysfunctional and who knows how long it will last like this and I just can't be part of something like that.

I don't think I ever slowed down and stopped trying to prove something in that damn band 'til the reunion in '04, but by then it was too late. Eddie was shot at that point, though I heard he's great now, and I'm really happy that he's supposedly sober and playing great and doing good. People think, "Oh you hate the guy." I don't hate the guy, I love the guy. I hate what he did in '04 to me on the reunion tour, but other than that I still love the guy.

Chickenfoot (featuring fellow ex-VH member Michael Anthony, guitar savant Joe Satriani and session drummer Kenny Arnoff filling in for the busy-with-the-Chili-Peppers Chad Smith) seems to have you in such a happier place.
The musicianship in this band is on such a high level, you can't even compare it to anything, and no ego trip about it, everybody's so great at what they do on their instruments. In our sleep we could probably play better than a lot of bands out there.

Tags:

Chickenfoot, Eddie Van Halen, Sammy Hagar, Van Halen

We Recommend

caf

I saw sammy four times. twice with van halen and twice solo. All were great shows. hagar sounds great. can't wait to see him with chicken foot.

online session drummer

The control room is just as important as the live room, because for an engineer to get good drum sounds he needs to be able to hear accurately. Merely placing good equipment in a sub standard room is not good enough. You'd never cook a fancy meal in a dirty kitchen, yet why do so many engineers choose this route? Because properly designed rooms aren't cheap to design, cheap to build, or cheap to implement!

Johnnywest1975

F--K Van Wolfgang. This is far from the classic line up. Little pussy Eddie had to have his son play with him so just turns around and lets Mike Anthony go, what a prick.

Ronnie

Wouldn't it be a gas if Chickensh*t broke up and Sammy had no platform to spew his negative garbage.

scarecrow

I'm so sick of Sammy Hagar and his crying and complaining about the classic and original Van Halen being back together and having a new album to tour with. Sam sounds like a bitchy ex-girlfriend. Sammy is a liar. He said earlier this year that he heard the new album and was not impressed and now he's saying he hasn't heard the new album. He said that he supports the classic and original Van Halen touring but is constantly mentioning and throwing them under the bus at every interview.

Kennedykits

What a fawning ass-kissing interview. Hagar and Chickenshit always have, do, and will forever be sucking.

Tbrebber4

Gaylord

Dean

Maybe these are highlights from a longer interview available elsewhere, but I feel it is a bit disrespectful to the guy to dredge up ancient VH issues. Or maybe questions about the current VH reunion could have been asked in a more imaginative way. I have not heard Chckenfoot, but the raves intrigue me. It would be nice to know more about the dynamic in the band, the ethos and its long-term goals.

Rob

I love Joe Satriani's solo records, but Sammy has always been a mediocre songwriter (there are maybe a half dozen songs off of all of his solo output that I like) and his tenure with Van Halen stunk. Unfortunately, Chickenfoot bites, too. About the only thing Sammy has been associated with that I found satisfying was Montrose. The guy is a really good singer, but that's about it.

Hank1980

Notice the second question ?? Interviewer asked about hearing the new Van Halen cd and tour..and what does Sammy answer with ??? Talks about himself being in Van Halen again and again..No one asked if you would be part of their tour ..

Conny Örjan Jazz

I've always had a hard time with Sam's vocals, always liked Roth era better, but that second Chickenfoot album (III) is an absolutely fantastic record! The third best Mike Anthony ever played on, after VH 1 and 1984...

Sam Sneed

I've heard both critically acclaimed Chickenfoot albums and I've yet to be enthralled or hear "amazing". Maybe it is fun or a happy place, but it is underachieving and soft, just like the Hagar Van Halen was. Keep thinking this guy Sammy brings an element of cheese to any music project he's involved with.

Timothy Ray Fricke

I agree with you that Chickenfoot hasn't put together some amazing stuff that I think a lot of people where hoping for. Everything was on the shoulders of Satriani to do that. But to slam Sammy/Van Halen era? I loved Sammy with Van Halen and I think some of the best music Van Halen came out with was from that era.