How important was Sammy Hagar to Van Halen’s story?
“Most purists believe [Van Halen] ended with [David Lee Roth]… It could have, my friend,” wrote Sammy Hagar in a recent social media post. “Instead we went on to sell over 50 million records for [a] No. 1 album [then] sold out every building and stadium in the world for a whole decade. That never happened again.”
Hagar’s rant didn’t come out of nowhere; it was a reaction to the news that in Alex Van Halen’s new memoir, Brothers, Alex doesn’t mention Hagar’s time with the band once. The book only focuses on the first 12 years of the band, meaning it ends before David Lee Roth leaves. While some people might see this as true to the book that Alex set out to write, others don’t see it as a true reflection of the band and what Eddie Van Halen was able to achieve with them.
Sammy Hagar falls into the latter category, as he makes his thoughts on the book clear. “Alex is not doing his brother’s musical legacy justice by not acknowledging all the No. 1 albums and some great music Eddie and I wrote together – not Alex – but Eddie and I wrote together,” he said, “To not acknowledge [those] 10 years of music is blasphemy to his brother’s musicianship, songwriting and legacy.”
In light of the singers’ recent comments, it’s worth pondering just how much of an impact Sammy Hagar had on Van Halen and how essential he was to their story. When Van Halen first burst onto the scene, they took an important and well-loved genre and provided additional layers to it. This came in both Eddie Van Halen’s playing style and the excitement of their frontman, David Lee Roth.
Van Halen was the musical equivalent of a champagne bottle in a centrifuge. They were so packed with energy that they came into the world of rock with such a pop that it took people a moment to adjust to them. When they eventually did adjust, these listeners revelled in the exciting new form of sped-up and energetic rock music that was now becoming mainstream.
David Lee Roth was the perfect frontman for this band. The fast style of playing needed a big presence on centre stage, and Lee Roth was precisely that. Gene Simmons once spoke about Lee Roth as a frontman and how much of a massive impact he had. “Dave completely [took] the frontman to the nth level… I mean, at that time, Dave was the king,” said Simmons, “There’s nobody. If Jagger stood next to him, it would be like, you know, a sixth grader. He really took it all the way, the whole band, the musicianship, the songwriting.”
When tensions in the band rose and Lee Roth decided to leave Van Halen, many people thought that could be the end of the band, but it came to Sammy Hagar. Hagar entered the band during the perfect time when they started to move away from hard riffs and experiment with various sounds. During this period of volatility, they needed a singer who could keep up and bring their own unique identity to the band; Hagar was undoubtedly that.
“From the first second, Sammy could do anything I threw at him,” said Eddie Van Halen, “It just opened up a whole new door. Finally, we felt like we were four people with a common vision. All of a sudden, everything felt complete.”
Hagar’s time with Van Halen wasn’t just one of commercial success; it marked a period when he and Eddie Van Halen could explore their songwriting capabilities. Hagar certainly has a point: It could be argued that without this period of the band, Eddie might not have unlocked his full potential as a songwriter.
“What I brought to Van Halen was just who and what I am,” said Hagar, “It was Sammy Hagar, who and what I was at that moment, but very inspired by Eddie Van Halen’s musicianship… He inspired me to write songs… Goosebump songs.”
So, to answer the question: how important was Sammy Hagar to Van Halen? The answer is very. Hagar certainly has a point that leaving him out of the band’s story feels unfair; however, it’s clear that Alex Van Halen only wanted to focus on a specific period with his memoir and not create something that encapsulates his and his brother’s legacy as a whole.
Hagar himself said in an interview that capturing all of those different facets of the band would take an age. “I understand he probably couldn’t have done the whole era in one book,” he said, “It would’ve been the Bible, the dictionary, so maybe he’s got plans for a Volume 2. Who knows?”
