Sammy Hagar just turned 79 this week, and the Mill Valley resident says he has one big wish left on his list: making peace with his old Van Halen bandmate Alex Van Halen. After recent public sniping between the two rockers, Hagar says he would love nothing more than to put the feud behind them and get back to making music together.
Hagar told Billboard he would love to be friends with Alex Van Halen again and play music together, saying he was willing to set aside past disagreements and unite the band's two eras — the one fronted by original singer David Lee Roth and the one he himself led starting in 1985, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. Hagar joined Van Halen after Roth's 1985 departure and fronted the band through 1996, later returning for a brief stint in 2003, per the same report.
The Insult That Reopened Old Wounds
The latest round of tension traces back to September, when Alex Van Halen called Hagar a complete idiot in an interview with Brazilian magazine Roadie Crew while praising David Lee Roth's 1997 memoir *Crazy From the Heat* as quite entertaining, as Ultimate Classic Rock reported. The interview was conducted by Marcelo Vieira, who had translated Alex's own autobiography for the Brazilian market.
Hagar wasn't about to let the jab slide. During a September 17 appearance on SiriusXM's Trunk Nation with Eddie Trunk, he fired back that he was probably the most successful idiot on the planet, according to AXS TV. On the same broadcast, he said he did not understand Alex Van Halen's animosity, publicly challenging his former bandmate to explain why he treats the so-called Van Hagar era as if it never happened, and accusing Alex of scratching the Hagar era off his brother's legacy.
A Memoir That Left Hagar Out Entirely
Much of the frustration stems from Alex Van Halen's 2024 memoir, *Brothers*, a 384-page book published through HarperCollins that focused strictly on his bond with his late brother Eddie Van Halen and completely omitted Hagar and the band's post-1985 history, according to Modern Drummer. The book was co-written with New Yorker writer Ariel Levy. More recently, Alex released a $475 archival photo book titled *Van Halen* through Genesis Publications, packaged with an unreleased early band demo — a release that drew public criticism from Hagar, who suggested during his SiriusXM appearance that archival photos ought to be shared freely with fans rather than sold.
Hagar has long argued that his era deserves equal footing in the band's story. Between 1986 and 1995, Van Halen scored four consecutive Billboard 200 No. 1 albums with Hagar on lead vocals — *5150*, *OU812*, *For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge*, and *Balance* — selling more than 40 million records along the way, a run the band never matched during Roth's original tenure, per Louder. The divide between the two camps isn't new, either: when Van Halen was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on March 12, 2007, Hagar and bassist Michael Anthony were the only two inductees who showed up to the New York ceremony, with Eddie Van Halen in rehabilitation at the time and Alex and Roth choosing to stay away, according to Guitar.com.
Life Beyond the Feud, and Beyond Van Halen
Hagar celebrated his birthday with a bash held over three nights at Cabo Wabo Cantina in Cabo San Lucas, marking the venue's 36th year, and he said the event drew about 100,000 ticket requests for roughly 1,600 available spots. He's already eyeing something bigger for his 80th birthday next year, though he says he's still deciding what comes next after this year's run of shows — possibly a science-fiction-themed rock project built around songs he's written over several decades.
Hagar has performed Van Halen songs on his Best of All Worlds tour and during his Las Vegas residency, but he said in September he's ready to move beyond Van Halen-heavy sets, even as he plans to always keep some of those songs in rotation — likely five or six per show — to make room for material from Montrose and his solo career. He was also weighing a long break from performing, by his own account. Beyond the stage, Hagar said he wants to use his platform to help people, summing up his outlook simply: unification over separation, let's unify this world.
A Bay Area Philanthropic Streak
Hagar's push for unity echoes a cause he's championed locally for years. He performed at Acoustics 4 A Cure at The Fillmore in San Francisco, an event he co-created with Metallica's James Hetfield to raise funds for pediatric cancer research at UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital. The first installment, which took place May 15, 2014, featured acoustic sets from Bay Area musicians including Billie Joe Armstrong and Joe Satriani, according to Ultimate Classic Rock.
Hagar's business ventures have also kept him firmly rooted in Northern California. He built Cabo Wabo Tequila into a major spirits brand before selling it in 2007 and later selling the remaining stake for $11 million, per 94.7 WCSX. More recently, Hagar has been linked with Guy Fieri and Santo Tequila, and he met Fieri in San Jose.
Whether Alex Van Halen will take Hagar up on the olive branch remains to be seen. For now, the ball sits in the drummer's court, while Hagar — on stage, in business, and now in the press — keeps making clear he's ready to move forward, with or without a formal reconciliation.
