When a drunken Eddie Van Halen assaulted Sammy Hagar: “Square in the nuts”
Van Halen were no strangers to acrimony by the time David Lee Roth left in 1985. It was a confusing period filled with much conjecture, and it seemed like the band’s days were numbered. That is, until a Ferrari mechanic pointed them in the direction of former Montrose frontman Sammy Hagar. The everyman hard rocker proved to be the uniting force the group desperately needed.
Of their first of four albums together, the release of 5150 in 1986 emerged as a number-one hit and saw Van Halen re-energised. The ensuing three records with Hagar at the helm, OU812, For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge, and Balance, also shot to the top of the charts. However, things wouldn’t take long to turn sour, and in 1996 internal disputes led to Hagar leaving.
There is a debate about why Hagar departed, but the vocalist maintains it was mainly due to the group’s new manager, Ray Danniels, drummer Alex Van Halen’s brother-in-law, and the decision to record two new tracks for a greatest hits album. Other factors included the health of the band members and their families, geography, and the age-old creative differences.
It was a strange time. Before long, Roth had a brief reunion with Van Halen that ended in tears, and former Extreme frontman Gary Cherone made an album as the group’s singer. However, the band failed to gel with Cherone; their sole album, Van Halen III, flopped, and attendance on the tours waned. Cherone left in 1999, and Van Halen went on hiatus, during which guitarist Eddie Van Halen took the time to recover from hip surgery.
Weirdly, in 2002, Hagar and Roth embarked on the Song for Song, the Heavyweight Champs of Rock and Roll tour. During this period, Hagar began considering his old band Van Halen, and before long, he had reconciled with them. In March 2004, it was announced that Van Halen and Hagar had reunited, were releasing a new compilation, and committed to a summer US tour.
Commercially, the jaunt was a tremendous success, grossing nearly $55million. Still, it became apparent early on that Hagar and Eddie Van Halen could not go any further together. It was widely reported that the guitarist had fallen back into a pit of alcoholism, which manifested in poor playing from the ‘Eruption’ maestro. Of course, Van Halen’s alcoholism affected all involved, and Hagar has discussed it extensively in his later career. He even regrets revealing in his book just how bad his old friend’s condition had become during this period.
Yet, there was no hiding Eddie’s alcoholism from those present. Barry Kerch, the drummer of Shinedown, the band who opened for Van Halen during the 2004 tour, revealed one moment the guitarist’s alcohol-drenched temperament physically assaulted Hagar during the run.
Speaking on a 2024 episode of Paltrocast With Darren Paltrowitz, he recalled fond memories of touring with such an influential band and hanging out with them and their families. However, he claimed things came to a head one evening when Van Halen assaulted Hagar on stage. “It was one of the most amazing times of my life – it was unbelievable,” Kerch said. “As much as those guys hated each other at that moment in time, they were so sweet to all of us.”
He outlined a divide in the camp, where Hagar and bassist Michael Anthony would keep to themselves, and Alex Van Halen would leave as soon as the show ended, not wanting any part in the drama. Naturally, Hagar and Anthony had their own dressing room, and the Van Halens a separate one.
While most of the time, you couldn’t tell the band hated each other onstage, one night, it erupted beyond any doubt. Kerch said: There was one night Sammy was singing, and I don’t know why Eddie was pissed at him, but he was. Eddie comes over and just kicks him as hard as he can, square in the nuts, while he’s singing”.
