Sammy Hagar Fires Back at Alex Van Halen: 'You Act Like There Never Was a Van Hagar'

Sammy Hagar has never been a man to keep quiet, and the Red Rocker proved it once again during a new interview with Eddie Trunk on SiriusXM. The target this time: Alex Van Halen, who recently called Hagar a "complete idiot" in an interview with the Brazilian magazine Roadie Crew.

Hagar, as is his style, met the insult with a grin and a counterpunch. "Guilty as charged, first of all," he told Trunk. "I'm probably the most successful idiot on the planet."

A Legacy Erased?

The real frustration, though, wasn't the name-calling — it was what Hagar sees as a systematic erasure of an entire chapter of Van Halen's history. In his 240-page memoir Brothers: An Intimate Account of Brotherhood and Rock Music, Alex Van Halen did not mention Hagar by name even once.

"I want to call Alex out and say dude, we all know, you act like there was never a Sammy Hagar. You act like there was never a 'Van Hagar,'" Hagar said. "We sold 40 some million records, [had] four Number One albums and you just scratch that off of your brother's legacy, saying no, that never happened. You don't even want to acknowledge it. That's deep. That's weird. That's not right, for Eddie, for me, for Mikey [Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony], for anybody."

The numbers back Hagar up. As Van Halen's second lead vocalist from 1985 through 1996 and again from 2003 to 2005, he fronted a version of the band that reached massive commercial heights. When Van Halen was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007, Hagar was honored as a member of that lineage.

What Is the Problem?

Hagar has a theory — and it dates back to tequila. In a 2025 conversation with Rolling Stone, he said he'd heard Alex's resentment stemmed from the success of Hagar's Cabo Wabo brand.

"I've had this conversation with a few people, including [former Van Halen manager] Irving Azoff," Hagar said. "I've asked him, 'What's the problem?' And some people have said to me, 'Oh, Cabo Wabo. At one time, Van Halen, when you built it, you guys were all partners in that. And then they didn't want it anymore when it was losing money, and they gave it to you, and you turned it around and made hundreds of millions of dollars on it. And they're angry. Alex is angry about that.'"

Hagar also believes Alex is bothered that Hagar and Michael Anthony have been touring together for years — playing sets packed with Van Halen classics — while Alex's own health issues have kept him off the road.

"He's not a singer," Hagar said. "He's not a guitar player. He is not really a band leader. And 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. 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. And I think that really bothers him that Mike and I are still out there doing it. I would feel bad. If I put myself in his shoes, I would feel terrible if I couldn't do it anymore."

Best of All Worlds and a Busy 2025

The flare-up comes just as Hagar is preparing to resume his Best of All Worlds residency at the Park MGM in Las Vegas. He'll once again be joined by Anthony, guitarist Joe Satriani, and drummer Kenny Aronoff.

The setlist for the residency has leaned heavily on Van Hagar-era hits — "Poundcake," "Why Can't This Be Love," "Right Now" — while also sprinkling in a couple of Roth-era staples like "Ain't Talkin' 'bout Love" and "Panama," along with Montrose's "Bad Motor Scooter" and Hagar's solo signature "I Can't Drive 55."

It's the kind of show that reminds audiences why the Hagar era mattered — and why the ongoing silence from the Van Halen camp feels so strange to him.

A Divided Van Halen Camp

Meanwhile, David Lee Roth — Hagar's predecessor and longtime foil — went on a solo tour earlier this year, though he called off the final dates. Shortly before that, Roth reunited with Alex Van Halen at a Ted Talk, marking their first public appearance together since the final Van Halen concert in 2015.

A similar moment between Alex and Hagar seems unlikely, at least right now. But Hagar says he's open to it. He even joked that Trunk might mediate.

"I want to know how much you charge an hour to see if you can mediate this thing," Hagar said. "I'm not trying to cause a conflict. I'm trying to fix something, you know. Whether Alex wants to play drums ever again is his business. Whether he wants to, you know, just keep releasing all this old stuff for these photographs and all this stuff, and charging people for old pictures that you can find on the internet and stuff, even if they're just his, it's like he should be putting them out there for free. To me, he's doing a lot of stuff wrong for the legacy of Van Halen. And the one that is my business is I just want to know why. Just come clean. Tell the people, tell me, make a public statement why, and then we can figure out whether you're right or wrong, and whether we can fix it or not. And if we can't fix it, then just go about my business. It's all good."

The Olive Branch

Despite the years of tension, Hagar insists there's no hatred on his end. Asked how he'd react if Alex ever reached out, he didn't hesitate.

"Oh come in, oh 100%, I'll grab him, I'll kiss him right on the lips," Hagar told Trunk. "I'd treat him like the person that I used to love and I could still love."

It's a striking moment from a man who has spent decades building a career on hard rock, harder tequila, and an even harder head. For Hagar — a Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, a solo hitmaker behind "I Can't Drive 55," and the voice of a multi-platinum Van Halen era — the fight isn't about pride. It's about the record.

"Whether Alex wants to play drums ever again is his business," Hagar said. "But to me, he's doing a lot of stuff wrong for the legacy of Van Halen."

For now, the Red Rocker will keep doing what he does best: playing the songs that made him a legend, in front of crowds that still want to hear them. And leaving the door open, just in case.