In a recent interview with *Planet Rock* magazine, Sammy Hagar shared his thoughts on David Lee Roth and reflected on his own tenure with Van Halen, providing a candid view of their dynamic and the factors leading to the end of his first stint with the band.
Regarding Roth, Hagar was direct in his assessment. He stated, “It wasn’t even a blip on my radar. I don’t respect Dave’s artistry, but I do think he’s clever and a great showman. What he did with Van Halen in the early days was fantastic. Van Halen couldn’t have made it without him.” Hagar acknowledged Roth’s contributions to the band’s early success but took issue with Roth’s reluctance to recognize the success Van Halen experienced during Hagar’s time with the group. Hagar added, “God bless Dave, but he refuses to acknowledge that Van Halen with me was even more successful than Van Halen with him, and that’s very stupid of him. That’d be like me not acknowledging what he did for the band before I joined: that would be stupid, wouldn’t it?”
Hagar also addressed the circumstances surrounding the end of his first period with Van Halen, reflecting on the challenges the band faced. He recalled, “We had eight years of [huge success], and then suddenly people in the band started changing… and it wasn’t me and it wasn’t Mike [Anthony, bass].” He described the recording process for the album *Balance* as fraught with difficulties, noting that it felt “like pulling teeth” and that the band’s dynamics had become “very dysfunctional” by that time. Hagar pointed to several issues that contributed to the band’s decline, including “drugs and alcohol and insecurity and bad management” as factors that ultimately “killed that band.”
Hagar’s reflections offer insight into the complexities of his relationship with Roth and the internal struggles that affected Van Halen during a turbulent period. Despite the challenges, Hagar’s comments underscore the lasting impact of both his own contributions and those of Roth on the band’s storied history.
