Sammy Hagar has brushed off David Lee Roth’s recent remarks about his story of receiving inspiration for a song through a dream about the late guitar legend Eddie Van Halen.
Back in 2022, Hagar revealed that he had a vivid dream in which he reunited with Eddie. In that dream, they created new music together. The result of that experience was the track “Encore, Thank You, Goodnight”, which was officially released in April 2025 via Big Machine Rock.
David Lee Roth’s Onstage Story
On August 13, during his summer 2025 U.S. solo tour stop at Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom in New Hampshire, Roth spoke to fans before performing the VAN HALEN classic “Dance The Night Away.”
Transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET, Roth told the crowd:
“One of my esteemed colleagues — he’s a contemporary, he’s got a great voice, he’s got a great catalog. You all know Sammy Hagar, right? He’s got a great voice. And Sammy, aloud, he described to the media about six weeks ago that the ghost of Eddie Van Halen visited him and graced him with a song that he memorized and then went home and recorded. It’s on the Internet.”
Roth went on with his story:
“I don’t know what the odds are, but last night the ghost of Eddie Van Halen visited me at the f-cking hotel room. I was watching the weather report and he came in and he was laughing. His f-cking ghost was laughing. I said, ‘What did you do now?’ He said, ‘Dave, Dave…’ Actually, you want me to do his accent? [Adopts Eddie’s accent] ‘Hey, Dave.’ He said, ‘Dave, you know that song I gave Hagar?’ I said, ‘What now?’ He said, ‘It’s actually [IRON BUTTERFLY’s] ‘In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida’ backwards. Don’t f-cking tell him.’ This all stays in this room, right? I laughed. We shared a ghost cigarette, a ghost Marlboro. Not one of those p-ssy-a-s white ones, but the [Marlboro Reds]. And I hugged my brother Ed, and I said, ‘Man, do I f-cking miss you.’ And he said, ‘I miss you too, Dave.’ He said, ‘But you know what? You should still go to hell.’ And I said, ‘Save me a seat.’”
Many fans and media outlets interpreted Roth’s comments as mockery. But Hagar saw it differently.
Sammy Hagar’s Reaction
Taking to Instagram, Hagar dismissed the idea of conflict and instead highlighted the positive side of Roth’s words:
“I can’t believe social media is trying to make something out of this. This is the first compliment and real olive branch moment Dave and I have had in 100 years. Listen closely and you will see that this is not negative whatsoever. And I believe Dave had the dream as well. Dave’s a good storyteller, but there’s some truth in between the showmanship. All good with me. Keep it up, Dave. These songs we both wrote with Eddie need to be carried on forever.”
The Inspiration Behind “Encore, Thank You, Goodnight”
Back in 2022, Hagar explained how the song came to life. Speaking with Ultimate Classic Rock, he said:
“About two months ago, I had this dream and Eddie [Van Halen] came. It was just like he’d been gone. It was not like he was passed, but he had just been out of my life and we hadn’t seen each other for a while. He’s going, ‘Man, let’s write some music!’ I said, ‘Yeah, f-ck it, man. Here, let’s go!'”
For Hagar, the song was not only inspired by Eddie but also a way to keep their musical legacy alive.