Sammy Hagar recently spoke to Classic Rock where he mentioned what late guitarist Eddie Van Halen was missing with former singer David Lee Roth.
Sammy said:
“I had more experience under my belt when I joined Van Halen in 1985 than they had. They’d been together for seven years, making records. I had been around for ten years before that. I knew how to sing.
”I knew what Eddie was playing; I knew which keys things were in and the arrangement of the music. Eddie really got off on that because he never had a musical partner with Dave.”
Hagar, who toured with Roth in the summer of 2002, has criticized Roth’s ego and deteriorating singing voice.
During an appearance on Steve-O’s “Wild Ride!” podcast, Hagar reflected on the tour, stating, “Dave, he had that sort of a big album, one kind of a big album, but he didn’t have a solo career. He was playing small places. So when he came in with me, he was making, like, 25 grand a night, I was making 150 grand a night, and they said, ‘Oh, you guys are gonna make the same money. Dave gets to make 150.’ I said, ‘He ain’t f*cking made 150 in his life except in VAN HALEN.'”
Hagar also criticized Roth’s personality, saying, “He’s not a fun guy. He doesn’t play well with others. I’m not sure what his problem is… He just always is about, ‘How can I make this guy look bad?’ And not just me — in life. He’s a chest-beating motherf***er.” Despite his criticisms, Hagar did praise Roth’s skills as an entertainer, saying, “He’s a showman.”
Hagar also expressed frustration with Roth’s lack of concern for his singing voice. “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. ‘Cause the guy sang so bad last time he was doing shows, it was embarrassing… But he’s a showman. Everything’s show, show, show, show, show, show, show. And he doesn’t care about his voice, which drives me nuts, man. I care more about my voice than I do my d*ck. If my d*ck didn’t work a couple of times, I’d be okay with it — I’d be bummed out — but if my voice f*cks up onstage, I’m f*cking bummed, man.”
Hagar emphasized his own success as a solo artist, noting that while Van Halen was a big band, not all big bands have successful solo careers. “Ask Mick Jagger. Ask Robert Plant. You can be the biggest band in the world and you can’t necessarily have a solo career,” he said. Despite his disagreements with Roth, Hagar remains grateful for the opportunity to have toured with him, saying, “God bless him, ’cause the early stuff is frickin’ great.”
