Speaking to 95.5 KLOS, Sammy Hagar talked about Van Halen’s 1985 and 1996 time period, and again from 2003 and 2005.
The singer was asked about the first time he met Eddie Van Halen and the other band members, saying:
“It was on that show – Boston was the headliner, Black Sabbath was second, Pat Benatar, Van Halen, and me opening. It was at the Anaheim Stadium [in California].
“After my show, I was sick as a dog, and I was lying in my room, completely exhausted, just sweating from the heat – I had a fever.
“And Eddie comes running in, ‘Oh, man! The first Montrose record [1973’s self-titled]… Let me shake your hand!’
“The funniest thing is – he is in my trailer, I’m lying, saying, ‘Thanks, man,’ and I was already digging that band, I loved Eddie Van Halen as a guitar player and the sound of those records.
“And he goes to the door and yells, ‘Dave!’ And Dave was walking by, ‘Hey, Dave, Sammy Hagar is here!’ If I was feeling better, I would have jumped up, ‘Let’s get it on!’
“It was so funny. Eddie was a sweetheart, he was so humble, and for a guy who plays the guitar like that! He wasn’t one of those guitar players with giant egos, he was the most humble musician I’ve ever met.
“Every time I met Eddie, he was just sweet and humble, he acted like you meant so much to him. ‘Dude, stop, you are embarrassing me! You are the GOAT – the greatest of all time! Don’t be kissing my butt!'”
On being fired, he said:
“Exactly. I have just been thrown out of the band and I didn’t want to get thrown out of the band, I just wanted guys to change a little bit because it was getting pretty reckless.
“It was getting wild, I was really looking to take a break, and just went through the divorce, and they would give me no slack.
“I was like, ‘Whoah, I thought you guys were my friends.’ I was hurt, and so when you write a book, that’s personal, it’s in there.
“I didn’t make stuff up, I wasn’t cruel to them, but what they did was cruel so it sounded like I was being cruel.
“And all my fans went, ‘You are all bullsh*t, why would you do that? We want the truth.’
“I didn’t give the truth, I would have left certain things out, something a little hard that people don’t need to know about anyone, especially after Eddie’s death now, I got a little stake in my heart for that one.”