Sammy Hagar Would Do Anything To Play with Eddie Van Halen Just One More Time: “I Miss Eddie So Much”

While once performing in the hard rock band Montrose, Sammy Hagar also explored a solo career that produced the hit song “I Can’t Drive 55.” But nothing compared to his time with Van Halen. Contributing to the band when he replaced David Lee Roth, Van Halen watched as their stardom grew to icon status. The band even found a place in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007. A part of the band since the 1980s, Hagar recently discussed how much he missed Eddie Van Halen and how they found common ground before the musician’s death.

Giving fans a glimpse into his life as part of Van Halen, Hagar released his book Red: My Uncensored Life in Rock. While heading on the road back in 2004 for a reunion trek, Eddie continued to struggle with substance abuse. In the book, Hagar described him as “unkempt, hunched over, frighteningly skinny…It was horrible to know a person that was in that kind of shape.”

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Sammy Hagar Wonders Where The Time Went

Eddie’s health seemed to get worse as Hagar admitted to only going on stage when he knew that Eddie was ready to go. With more than a few arguments, the tour seemed a stressful time for the band. But now, Hagar explained how he would do anything to play with Eddie one last time. “As a matter of fact, I miss Eddie so much I would go do that (2004) tour again, just to play with the guy again. I miss the guy. Our creativity when we were on was spectacular.”

Now, twenty years after that famous 2004 tour, Hagar appeared somewhat shocked by how fast the time went by. He told Ultimate Classic Rock. “Mike and I were in Cabo (Wabo), sitting the dressing room drinking some tequila, getting ready to go play some music. Some guy comes in and starts saying, ‘Well, it’s been 20 years since you guys did the reunion tour,’ and I’m going, ‘What the f**k…?’ Mike and I looked at each other and said, ‘Twenty years, wow. Let’s go do this.’ The light bulb just went off. We just high-fived, went on stage and didn’t say nothing to nobody, just started planning this tour, which would be a heavy Van Halen song tour.”

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