While recently talking to Guitar World, former Van Halen singer Sammy Hagar reflected on his time in the band and the relationship he had with the members. In particular, he recalled always being close with bassist Michael Anthony. On the other hand, he reveals how the friendship didn’t always sit well with Eddie Van Halen. Asked about his current relationship with Anthony, Hagar looked back on how the guitar legend reacted to it saying:
“Mikey is like my brother from another mother. So much so that back in the early Van Halen days, Eddie would get all jealous. Because Mike and I would get into these soulful conversations for hours, and Eddie would be on the outside looking in.”
“And this was when we were all getting along great, not towards the end when our marriage fell apart. But even in the early days, Eddie would say, ‘Hey, I wanna hang out like you and Mike do.’ And I was like, ‘Cool, man. Let’s do it. So, what’s the problem?'”
“The way it was in Van Halen was Eddie and Alex would get together and do their family thing. And Mike and I would always be the ones that would get tacos and margaritas and talk about life when we were on the road.”
“And in the end, when we were arguing, and Van Halen was falling apart, me and Mike had our own plane because they were trying to keep Eddie and me apart.”
“I guess Mike and I are cut from the same cloth. Eddie hated it, would get mad on stage, and called it stupid, but we had our inside lingo and were always very close.”
“And that’s accented by the magical sound of his background vocals layered over my lead vocals. It’s a unique sound that can’t be described and that I’ve never had with anyone else.”
Sammy Hagar is currently promoting his brand new album with The Circle. Appropriately titled “Crazy Times,” it came out in late September. Apart from Hagar, the project also involves Michael Anthony on bass, as well as Jason Bonham on drums, and Vic Johnson on guitar.
Photos: Matt Becker (SammyHagar), Abby Gillardi (Van Halen-8611 (20022175423))
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