Sammy Hagar Says His Last Contact With Eddie Van Halen ‘Broke My Heart’

Sammy Hagar suggests he’s grateful he experienced the chance to discuss with Eddie Van Halen a single very last time ahead of the guitarist passed away previously this year.

Speaking to Variety from Large Sky, Montana, where by he was launching Santo Reposado, the latest expression in his Santo Tequila line, Hagar claims the length among him and Van Halen was a thing he regretted, and he’s happy the two of them have been ready to at last locate some closure.

“Poor Eddie, broke my heart, but thank God we linked just before [he died],” Hagar suggests. “I read he was in terrible shape and I desired to attain out I finally claimed, ‘I’m just contacting him.’”

But according to Hagar, trying to get ahold of his former bandmate proved to be difficult, as he no extended experienced Van Halen’s range. “I was contacting his brother, I was calling his supervisor, I was calling his pals, and I’d say, ‘Hey, inform Ed, give him my cell phone amount. Explain to him if he ever desires to discuss to me, I definitely, seriously want to speak it out, assistance him and see what I can do,’” Hagar claims. “I [told them], ‘I want to be his good friend, I want to bury the hatchet,’ but they never ever acquired it carried out.”

In the end, Hagar says, it was George Lopez of all people today who lastly brought the two together. “George is a pricey friend and he was Eddie’s pal and he mentioned, ‘Sammy, Eddie’s in undesirable shape, he loves you brother, you have to have to get to out.’ I stated, ‘Give me his fucking number and I’ll make certain I contact him.’”

When Hagar eventually attained Van Halen, the singer claims there was almost nothing but appreciate between the longtime musical partners. “I mentioned, ‘Why never you reply? I’ve been reaching out,’” Hagar remembers, “and Ed reported, ‘Why didn’t you simply call me? Do not fucking connect with my brother, fucking phone me!’ And I mentioned, ‘I appreciate you person,’ and it was like, increase, we have been great. It was,” Hagar claims, “a attractive issue.”

Van Halen passed away in Oct after a extended fight with cancer. Hagar confirms a Van Halen team reunion tour experienced been in the works, prior to the guitarist’s disease. “Eddie and Al [Alex Van Halen} and Irving Azoff, their manager [and] my dear good friend, we ended up hunting at carrying out the reunion tour with everyone, which is the way it had to be,” Hagar claims, corroborating reports that the tour would have provided the two himself and David Lee Roth, whom Hager famously replaced in 1985. “I’ve been pushing for that for 10 yrs,” Hager insists, including that he was all set to “put [any differences] apart. Let’s go give the lovers the most important band in the earth, you know what I necessarily mean?” he states. “You never get even bigger than Van Halen, and the supporters should have to see it all, listen to each individual track.”

Though Hagar has found achievements as a solo singer and with his band, The Circle, he claimed it was always the Van Halen catalog that enthusiasts desired to hear. “You know, you go see just me, I’ll sing some of the Dave tracks, but I wouldn’t at any time sing ample,” he claims, “and then he cannot sing my tunes, so they by no means heard, you know, the Van Halen hits, the No. 1 albums we experienced. And so it’s not reasonable. You know, there is normally a bitch,” Hagar jests. “Every time we do a reunion, whichever just one it was, it was a bitch. But yeah, that would have been amazing.”

Although the reunion tour will not be occurring, Hagar experienced been touring with The Circle just before the coronavirus pandemic brought are living shows to a halt. The 73-year-outdated admits it was great to sluggish down for a whilst, while he’s eager to return to the street when it’s protected to do so. “I’m starting up to definitely miss it now,” he claims.

However, the time off has offered Hagar the possibility to focus on some of his other jobs, including Santo, the high quality tequila line he co-started with celeb chef Guy Fieri. The longtime good friends held a socially distant launch celebration at the upscale Lone Mountain Ranch in Montana in mid-December to unveil their new Santo Reposado. The cask-aged 100% agave tequila joins Santo’s Blanco tequila and the brand’s popular tequila-mezcal mix, the aptly-named Santo Mezquila, as portion of the brand’s offerings.

Hagar, whose Cabo Wabo tequila manufacturer in the ’80s encouraged a Van Halen track of the same name, says he speedily transformed his previous bandmates into “tequila guys” far too. “Every band member beloved tequila,” Hagar says, including, “Everyone on the world enjoys tequila — it’s just enjoyable.”