Sammy Hagar and Alex Van Halen are still feuding after more than two decades.
Hagar, 77, and the drummer, 53, haven’t spoken in 21 years, Rolling Stone reported on Tuesday, April 29, alongside a new interview with the singer. Van Halen was founded in 1973, with Hagar coming on board in 1985 after lead vocalist David Lee Roth left. Hagar’s first tenure with the band ended in 1996, but he returned from 2003 to 2005.
Alex suffers from a spinal injury that has affected his ability to play drums, per another Rolling Stone interview from October 2024. The musician didn’t mention Hagar by name in his memoir, Brothers.
Hagar told the outlet that he believes their animosity stems from Alex’s inability to perform as he once did.
“He’s not a singer. He’s not a guitar player. He is not really a band leader,” Hagar said. “He seems like he doesn’t want to play drums or can’t play drums anymore, and he can’t go write a new record.”
Related: Alex Van Halen Says ‘I Owe My Life’ to Wife Stine, Who Helped Him Kick Drug Addiction in the 1990s
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Sammy Hagar on April 27, 2025 in Indio, California.
“Alex wasn’t the songwriter in the band. He was the drummer. Eddie and I wrote the songs. Dave and Eddie wrote the songs, and so we can go out and do them,” Hagar said of Alex’s late brother and band co-founder, Eddie Van Halen.
Hagar and Eddie had a falling out, but they reconciled before Eddie’s death in October 2020.
“And I think that really bothers him that Mike and I are still out there doing it,” Hagar said of the band’s bassist, Michael Anthony. “I would feel bad. If I put myself in his shoes, I would feel terrible if I couldn’t do it anymore.”
Despite his previous sentiments, he also spoke directly to Alex. “Al, you’re fine. Just leave me alone. I’ll leave you alone. Everything’s good,” Hagar told Rolling Stone.
“I’m making you money, by the way, Al. I’m out there selling Van Halen records and keeping the name alive, keeping the music alive,” he said, referring to his upcoming Las Vegas residency, Best of All Worlds, which begins on Wednesday, April 30 and features Van Halen songs from Hagar’s era.
Related: Sammy Hagar Says It’s ‘Very Important’ That He ‘Buried a Hatchet’ with Eddie Van Halen Before His Death
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Alex Van Halen on May 17, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
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Ahead of his upcoming nine-show residency, Hagar released a new single, “Encore, Thank You, Goodnight,” on Friday, April 24. He told Rolling Stone in a previous interview that he wrote it after Eddie visited him in a dream.
“He had a guitar around his neck and we were having a lovefest since we hadn’t seen each other in a long time,” he told the outlet. “And he just started playing this riff, and I started singing.”
“This was one hundred percent a communication from the beyond,” he said. “There is no question about it. I dream about Eddie all the time, quite honestly.”
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