Interviewed by KUSI’s Paul Rudy, former Van Halen singer Sammy Hagar talked about his relationship with late guitarist Eddie Van Halen.
Here’s what the singer said:
“The whole year, of 2020, in the early parts, around January, Eddie and I connected and we started talking again. We were talking about writing music again. We were talking about going out and touring with the whole gang one time for the big time in ’22; that was the plan.
”Of course, we wouldn’t wanna announce anything like that. But I think Wolfie [Eddie‘s son Wolfgang Van Halen] said it in some interviews how everybody was planning on doing that, and it would have been the greatest thing that ever happened to VAN HALEN. Unfortunately, Eddie didn’t make it.
“I don’t think anyone realized how sick he was. And then when I started talking to him [again], I would send him a call and he wouldn’t answer. I would send him a text and say, ‘Word man…’ — I used to call him ‘Word Man — ‘Word man, where are you, man? I’m trying to get a hold of you. You’re making me nervous.’ And about a day later, he’d get back [to me] and say, ‘Dude, I was in the hospital.’ I’d say, ‘Oh, god.’ It was funny. ‘Dude, I’m in the hospital. Give me some slack.’
“But I’ll tell you what: that guy was made out of something special, man. That Dutch blood or whatever it is, he hung in there a long time. He’s had cancer and hip surgery and all these things for years; I guess he’d battled it almost 20 years.”