In 2004, VAN HALEN fans were ecstatic at the news of a reunion tour featuring Sammy Hagar. After years of silence from the band and failed attempts to bring David Lee Roth back, the Red Rocker’s return was seen as a beacon of hope for the legendary group. But what should have been a celebratory return of the VAN HAGER era quickly descended into chaos.
In a recently resurfaced interview from the AXS TV archives, Hagar opened up about the harrowing experience, revealing just how bad things got during the ill-fated tour.
“It was the worst experience in my life,” Hagar confessed, as transcribed by Ultimate Guitar. “Eddie was completely whacked out, off the charts on alcohol and drugs. Poor guy. He was really in bad shape, I thought he was going to die.”
Hagar described nightmarish onstage scenarios where Eddie Van Halen’s performance veered into unpredictable territory. “There’d be nights where he’d start the song, and I’d look at Mike [Michael Anthony], look at Al [Alex Van Halen], and we’d all be, ‘Hmm.’ I’d look at the set list, it ain’t the song… and then he’d noodle around, and then finally he’d fall into the thing, and it’d kind of be like the song, and it was rough.”
The tension extended beyond the stage. “I tried to quit,” Hagar admitted. “I said, ‘I can’t do this anymore.’ You know, the guy’s going to die. First of all, every night, I’d sit in my dressing room and wait till I heard his guitar [make noise], I’d look at Mike and go, ‘He’s up there.’ It was that kind of a deal. And so, I went up and played, and it was horrible.”
Hagar recounted shocking stories from the tour, including incidents where Eddie’s behavior crossed dangerous lines. “He did horrible things to people. He treated people so bad… I’ve never met a person like this in my life, trying to bust windows out of a G5 airplane at 40,000 feet with a wine bottle…”
However, Hagar revealed that a pre-existing contract locked him into the tour, forcing him to see it through. “When I tried to quit, there was an attorney who drew up a contract that I signed. It said I’d have to pay these guys off for all the money they would have lost, and so I stuck it out,” he explained. “I haven’t talked to the guy since. I still really, really have a bad taste about what happened on that thing, and thank God he got himself together.”
Despite his frustrations, Hagar made it clear that his disappointment stemmed not from ill will, but from watching a close friend struggle with his demons. “But Eddie‘s a sweet human being. He’s talented, and he’s a sweet, wonderful guy,” Hagar reflected. “He’s got some demons, you know, and he’s not the only person. I don’t like that, but when I saw those demons take over… He was one of the best friends I’ve ever had.”
Reeder, the visionary behind Metal Addicts, has transformed his lifelong passion for metal into a thriving online community for metal aficionados. As a fervent devotee of black metal, Reeder is captivated by its dark, atmospheric, and often unorthodox soundscapes.