Glenn Hughes (from YouTube)
Glenn Hughes says he almost became the lead singer of Van Halen.
Hughes, who sang and played bass in Deep Purple from 1973-76, confirmed in a recent episode of The Classic Rock Podcast that Eddie Van Halen was seriously interested in hiring him as the new lead singer of Van Halen after the departure of David Lee Roth in 1985.
“Well, Eddie was newly sober at that time… And we spoke about it,” Glenn said. “Eddie had been a friend of mine from the beginning. Look… Wow… Would it have worked? I’m not sure. Unless I was completely sober — and I’ve been sober now for 24 years. Yeah, it would have been interesting, wouldn’t it? [Laughs] You never know.”
This wasn’t the first time Hughes made mention of his possible collaboration with Van Halen. In a 1996 interview with Swedish journalist Mike Eriksson, Hughes said: “Eddie Van Halen told me last year… He said to me that, when they were auditioning Sammy Hagar, that if I would’ve been clean and sober I would’ve gotten the gig.”