Sammy Hagar opines that drugs, alcohol, insecurity and bad management killed Van Halen

Sammy Hagar opines that drugs, alcohol, insecurity and bad management killed Van Halen

Former Van Halen frontman Sammy Hagar was recently interviewed by Planet Rock and he spoke about his predecessor (and later successor) David Lee Roth as well as what led to his departure from the group back in 1996.

Hagar joined Van Halen in 1985 replacing Roth and provided lead vocals on the studio albums 5150 (1986), OU812 (1988), For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge (1991) and Balance (1995).

Hagar advised Planet Rock as follows:

“I don’t respect Dave’s artistry, but I do think he’s clever and a great showman and what he did with Van Halen in the early days was fantastic. Van Halen couldn’t have made it without him.

“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?”

“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).”

“The ‘Balance’ record was like pulling teeth, things got very dysfunctional by then. Drugs and alcohol and insecurity and bad management killed that band.”

You can read other excerpts from the interview with Sammy Hagar at Planet Rock and read the entire interview in Issue 15 of Planet Rock magazine, which can be purchased via Planet Rock’s website.