Sammy Hagar’s brutal verdict on David Lee Roth’s singing
The fact that Van Halen could continue with Sammy Hagar feels like an impossible feat. Even though Hagar was more than capable of ploughing ahead with his solo career, a chance call from his mechanic led to him getting the gig with one of the reigning kings of glam rock, taking over for David Lee Roth for the album 5150. While Hagar was known to have had various spats with the Van Halen brothers, he didn’t have as much respect for what his predecessor did before him.
Then again, Roth was never a hired gun when working in Van Halen. In the group’s early years, it was Roth’s showmanship that led to the band getting a slot in the Hollywood club scene, even suggesting that Eddie Van Halen turn around so that no one would pick up on his tapping techniques when they played.
Although Roth may have had a bluesier tone to his voice than Hagar’s, he more than made up for it with his amazing performance ability. Outside of singing the songs every night, Roth was known to soak up the audience’s energy whenever they played live, often wielding a sword onstage and performing various tricks to compete with Eddie’s mind-bending solos.
By the time the group started to make synthesised music on the album 1984, Roth wasn’t as willing to go along with the program, quitting shortly after the tour and leaving Hagar to fill his role. Although the band could have floundered at this point, Hagar ushered in a new era for the band, having a musically refined palette than Roth.
Despite being on good terms with the band, Hagar’s time with the group lasted about as long as Roth’s, eventually quitting after being unhappy to come into the studio to work on the song ‘Humans Being’. After doing various reunion tours with the original lineup and alongside Roth, Hagar would never reunite in the studio with the band for another record, with A Different Kind of Truth serving as the band’s swan song with Roth at the helm.
Looking back on how the band operated, though, Hagar didn’t have as much respect for Roth’s talents as a singer. Despite being one of the biggest frontmen to walk the Earth, Hagar thought that most of Roth’s strengths came from his presentation rather than his talent behind the mic.
When talking to Steve-O, Hagar thought that his predecessor never cared about the skills that every singer needs to have, saying, “He doesn’t care about singing. If he did, he’d take care of his voice, or he’d take voice lessons and get warmed up and do something. Because the guy sang so badly the last time he was doing shows, it was embarrassing. But he’s a showman. Everything’s show, show, show, and he doesn’t care about his voice, which drives me nuts, man”.
Hagar’s gripe also speaks to a wider split in what people want from a frontman. Some singers treat the voice like an instrument that needs constant maintenance, rehearsal, and restraint. Others treat it like a weapon you swing around until it breaks, trusting that charisma will carry whatever the notes cannot. Roth came up in a world where the spectacle was the point, and the voice was just one part of the fireworks.
And yet, for all of Hagar’s frustration, it is hard to deny that Roth’s approach was baked into Van Halen’s original magic. The band were virtuosos, but Roth made them feel dangerous, like the party might spill off the stage at any moment. That kind of electricity does not come from perfect pitch, it comes from conviction, and it is why the argument about who was “better” has never really been settled. They were simply offering different versions of what a rock singer is supposed to be.
During his lifetime, Eddie tended to agree with Hagar’s assessment, famously saying that the rest of the band were musicians, whereas Roth was the rockstar in the group. Even though Roth may not be concerned with hitting every note with dead-on accuracy when he takes the stage, his showmanship has carved out a lane for millions of hard rock singers to follow.
