Sammy Hagar says he’s willing to meet David Lee Roth halfway for an Eddie Van Halen tribute. But would Roth be satisfied with that idea?
In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, Hagar said the recent Taylor Hawkins tribute concerts got him thinking about the Eddie Van Halen tribute that’s been often discussed among fans and the media over the last two years but yet to happen. Hagar is still hoping and wants Roth to be on board.
“I would love it if Dave wanted to do a tribute where he’d sing ten of his songs, and then I’d come out and do ten of mine,” Hagar said. “That would be great with Alex and Mike and maybe a bunch of different guitar players. Look at what Dave [Grohl] just did for Taylor [Hawkins]. That’s one of the greatest events in rock history. That’s right up there with the early Farm Aids, and right up there with Live Aid. That was a great event, and that could be done for Ed with everybody playing.”
Hagar continued, “The only way to do it is to put both eras together and do it for a cause, for a purpose, not for a money grab, not like the whole tour, where we’re going to make 10 million bucks apiece. None of that shit. It could be a residency; it could be two or three nights.”
As for anything beyond a tribute, Hagar said he’s not interested. He’s adamant: No Eddie. No Van Halen.
“I’m not in love with the idea of being Van Halen without Eddie Van Halen,” he said. “Matter of fact, I’m dead against it. But I would love to play music with Alex and Mike again. I would love to play those songs again. And if we did a residency or a tribute, I would sing 50/50. I would sing half the Dave songs too for the Van Halen fans. And those songs are great.”
Hagar added that former Van Halen manager Irving Azoff had approached him about a Van Halen tribute project that would have included Sammy Hagar, Michael Anthony, Alex Van Halen and Joe Satriani.
“I knew there was talk of it because Irving Azoff had called me,” said Hagar. “He said, ‘I want to do a residency in Vegas with you and Mike and Al and a superstar guitar player.’ And I said, ‘Like who?’ And he said, ‘Like Joe Satriani.’ I said, ‘It just sounds like Chickenfoot with Alex Van Halen instead of Chad Smith.’ I wasn’t much for that, as much as I love Joe.”
And what about Wolfgang Van Halen getting involved? Hagar thinks that would be great, but only for a show or two.
“If there was ever a situation where there was a Van Halen tribute in some kind of way with Alex, Mike, myself, Dave, if he would cooperate, and Wolfie playing Eddie’s parts, now that would be worthy of calling ‘Van Halen,’ for a moment,” Hagar said. “Wolfie would be crazy to drop his life and his creativity and his career to be his dad’s mimic. But for a moment, it could be great.”