Sammy Hagar gets brutally honest about playing with Alex Van Halen again

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Sammy Hagar has earned significant income both through his career as a rock musician – notably with Van Halen – and from the sale of his tequila company. However, it appears he’s completely cut ties with Alex Van Halen, and there’s no indication of future collaboration with him on either venture.

Alex Van Halen is currently working on an album featuring music recorded during jam sessions with his brother, Eddie, and other musicians. He’s still completing the production, including mixing the tracks, possibly adding instruments, and finishing the vocals. Sammy Hagar will not be involved in this project.

The singer recently expressed interest in being involved with the new project and offered to contribute, but he acknowledges a long-standing strained relationship with Alex. Despite this, he continues to perform some Van Halen songs he helped create during his concerts, and his band frequently features Michael Anthony, a former bassist for Van Halen.

Sammy Hagar sees Alex Van Halen as the Roger Waters of his former band

It looks like a reunion with Alex isn’t in the cards. The drummer hasn’t asked Hagar to contribute to the new album, and Hagar isn’t interested in working with what he sees as Alex Van Halen’s negative attitude.

In a recent interview with Louder, he explained that his connection with Alex Van Halen is similar to the dynamic between David Gilmour and Roger Waters of Pink Floyd.

Man, I’m a huge Pink Floyd fan, and I totally get what David Gilmour means when he says he’ll never play with Roger Waters again. It’s like, I feel the same way about Alex Van Halen. Those guys just bring a really negative vibe, you know?

The singer has a point: Roger Waters often seems negative and self-absorbed to a lot of people. While he was in Pink Floyd, the band has continued to thrive even after he left, though he would probably disagree with that assessment.

Okay, so with Sammy Hagar joining Van Halen, it’s different than, say, David Gilmour stepping into Pink Floyd. Van Halen was already huge before Hagar took over for Roth. Hagar doesn’t quite fill the same role as Gilmour did, but I think his point about band dynamics is interesting. Though, I seriously doubt Alex Van Halen sees himself as the guy calling all the shots like Roger Waters did.

Ultimately, fans just want a great new Van Halen album. It doesn’t matter who plays on it, as long as the music is good and honors Eddie Van Halen’s legacy. They’re hoping for new material, not just a collection of old, unused tracks.

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2026-03-08 19:00