July 2, 1996
Kurt Loader: In news from out of nowhere on Wednesday, it was confirmed that some sort of snit had erupted in the ranks of Van Halen, that singer Sammy Hagar, the man who replaced the orchidaceous David Lee Roth as the band's frontman a decade ago, was off sulking, or cursing, or whatever, in Hawaii, while the rest of the band was back in the studio with none other than... David Lee Roth, who'd returned to the Van Halen ranks to cut a new tune for an upcoming greatest hits album - and might be sticking around, or not, the situation wasn't exactly clear - although record company sources told MTV News that Hagar was, indeed, history. From his retreat, Sammy's minions issued a press statement citing the usual "creative differences", although some observers felt that real problem may have been Hagar's dislike of touring, a subject he brought up last year, during a talk with Jon Stewart at MTV's "Spring Break".
SAMMY HAGAR: The Monsters Of Rock that we did, I tell you, I almost, I honestly almost said, "I will never tour again." You can ask the band. I was... before "For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge" I was saying I don't think I'm going to tour this next album, maybe I have to quit the band. I mean, and it was like... I've never even discussed this in camera before, because it was really a kind of personal thing. The band, we actually had a little problem with this. I got sick. The first show I fell down and broke my tail bone in the Monsters Of Rock, and then I got so stressed that I had to have a masseuse to straighten me out every morning, to get me just so I could move around. Once I got moving, I could go out and I'd be sort of okay, but the stress of that. I got a sinus infection. I got strep throat. I got an ear infection from flying with it. That whole tour I never sang worth a crap.
KL:Ever meet one of those guys at a party? They just go on and on... Meanwhile on Wednesday, Van Halen drummer Alex Van Halen, during a phone-in talk with San Diego radio station Q106, had this to say about the situation.
ALEX VAN HALEN, Van Halen: We're doing one song together. That's all I know, and that's as far as it goes.And, to put everything in perspective, Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich, speaking with John Norris at the Lollapalooza launch, weighed in with a few laconic comments of his own regarding the surprising Van Halen news.
LARS ULRICH, Metallica: All I can say is KISS. OK? Those KISS tickets are selling mighty well out there... And you know what? I think it's great that they're doing it. I hope they'll have the balls to take it all the way. I think seeing Van Halen with Dave again would be the ultimate. And I think it would do as well as KISS. And I hope they wanna do it. And more power to 'em. Good luck. I mean that from the bottom of my heart.So what's really going on in Van Halen? That remains to clarified, very soon, no doubt, and we will keep you posted.