Sammy Hagar accuses Alex Van Halen of “blasphemy” over memoirs
In his new memoirs, Brothers, Alex Van Halen fails to mention the era of Van Halen when Sammy Hagar fronted the band which Hagar has now labelled as “blasphemy”.
Alex’s book came out in October 2024. It tells the story of the first 12 years of the band, ending before David Lee Roth left the group. As a result, there is no mention of Hagar and his time with Van Halen throughout the book. There is also no mention of Gary Cherone, who joined the band temporarily, and it doesn’t mention when Lee Roth reunited with the band, either.
Ever opinionated, Hagar has taken to social media to make his thoughts on the recent memoir known. He spoke specifically about his omission from Brothers and why he disagreed with the move.
“Most purists believe [Van Halen] ended with [David Lee Roth],” said Hagar under a photo he posted of himself with Eddie Van Halen in 1991, “It could have, my friend, but 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 continued, saying that to miss out on his and Eddie’s time together is a disservice to Eddie’s legacy as a musician. “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.”
Hagar had previously discussed his omission from the book, admitting there is a lot to cover and that he hopes for another volume covering that period. He also said that he would like to try to make amends with Alex at some point in the future.
“It’s on my bucket list that I will not take this to my grave, and I don’t want Al taking it to his grave,” he said during an interview with Rolling Stone, “I understand he probably couldn’t have done the whole era in one book. It would’ve been the Bible, the dictionary, so maybe he’s got plans for a Volume 2. Who knows?”
Hagar also said he has no plans for a reunion with Alex but wants them to make amends. “I want to be friends, though. I don’t want to play in a band with Al. I’m not asking for that. I can see that he’s not capable of doing that,” Hagar continued, “If he was, I’d be happy to play with him, but it’s not what I’m looking for. I just want to be friends again.”
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