“Let’s see if he makes the shows”: Sammy Hagar reveals what he really thinks of David Lee Roth coming out of retirement
Sammy Hagar has revealed his thoughts on David Lee Roth coming out of retirement to tour again, and well, he’s not too optimistic.
Hagar replaced Roth as Van Halen frontman in 1985, but the two later carried out a co-headlining tour together in 2002 which saw the vocalists go head to head. The stint – as per Hagar’s account – didn’t go too well, with Roth often leaving him to open the show each night, when they were supposed to be taking it in turns.
READ MORE: Sammy Hagar claims Eddie Van Halen wanted to tour with him before passing: “He said ‘Next year, we’re gonna get together… Don’t even talk to Alex about this’”
Now, Roth is out of the retirement he previously announced back in 2021, and returned to the stage earlier this May at the M3 music festival in Columbia for his first public concert in more than five years. He is due to play more shows later this summer. In a new interview with Rolling Stone, the news is put to Hagar, who apparently “literally falls off his chair, roaring with laughter”.
“It ain’t over until it’s over. Listen, he may not … Let’s see if he makes the shows. Who knows what Dave is up to?” Hagar says. Asked if he would ever consider touring with Roth again, he replies, “The circumstances would have to be right. Dave always wants too much. He always tries to upstage. He tried to pull stuff on the Sam and Dave tour. The nights when he was opening, when we flip-flopped… which I would never do again. I would never bother. But look, I’m not an opening act for anybody.
“On those nights, he would call in and say that the bus broke down, 10 minutes before he was supposed to go on. And because I care about my fans, I would go on. And I did that about four times. I wanted to break the guy’s fuckin’ neck.”
He adds, “The stupidest thing is, he did the worst when he headlined. He couldn’t follow me with a band of kids playing Eddie’s guitar solo note for note and playing Eruption and shit. He did his whole Van Halen show from 1983, and I’m going, ‘What an idiot!’ He should have represented himself a little more like who he was as a solo artist.
“I’m so fortunate that I had a solo career before I joined Van Halen, because even Mick Jagger and people will tell you, being in the biggest rock band in the world and then trying to go solo ain’t the easiest,” he concludes.
You can find out more about David Lee Roth’s tour via his official website. Sammy Hagar is currently amid his Las Vegas residency with the Best Of All Worlds band – tickets are still available.
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Source: www.guitar-bass.net
