Sammy Hagar says before he died, Eddie Van Halen wanted to make music with him

Sammy Hagar has spoke previously about how he and Eddie Van Halen made peace with each other prior to Eddie’s death in October 2020. But now, in a new interview, Hagar says his former Van Halen band mate told him that he wanted the two to “make some noise” together.

Speaking to The Washington Post a few days ago, Hagar said that when he reconnected with Eddie “four or five months before he died,” the late guitar legend “had elevated his whole thing.”

Hagar explains, “He had come to peace with everything. He knew he was sick. And it was so great to contact the guy when he was in that state of mind…And man, I’m so glad that that happened at that time, because if it wouldn’t have, if we had never made peace and he would have passed the way he did, I would feel terrible.”

Hagar goes on to say that in that conversation, Eddie told him that he’d been fighting cancer for 15 years and that he had to get “this big thing on my neck and my throat…all straightened out.” Then, Hagar says Eddie told him, “Next year, you and I have gotta make some noise. We made some great music together, and I wanna do it again.’ I was just, like, ‘Yes.'”

Hagar adds, “Hearing those things really made me able to handle his death. ‘Cause it’s still tough as hell. I miss the guy.”

Hagar joined Van Halen in 1985, replacing original frontman David Lee Roth, and recorded four number-one albums with the group. The band’s “Van Hagar” lineup — Hagar, Eddie, bassist Michael Anthony and drummer Alex Van Halen — last toured together in 2004.