Sammy Hagar will start in July the “Best of All Worlds” tour that will be focused on the Van Halen catalog but also feature songs from his solo career. His band will be formed by Joe Satriani (Guitar), Michael Anthony (Bass), Jason Bonham (Drums) and Rai Thistlethwayte (Guitar, keyboards and backing vocals).
In an interview with Ultimate Classic Rock, the musician said that he and Anthony tried to talk with Alex before they announced the tour, letting him know that they would do this and inviting him to be part of at least one show. However, as Hagar said, they had no response even though they tried to contact him in every possible way. The musician who doesn’t talk to the press and lives away from the spotlight since Van Halen’s final tour recently announced that he is selling all his gear.
Sammy Hagar says Alex Van Halen didn’t return his calls
“Mike and I reached out to Alex before we did this. We reached out to him a dozen times before this tour, in every way. E-mail, text message, phone call, message on the machine, okay? No response. No response. I mean, we made every offer to get together or to just talk or to have breakfast, lunch or dinner.”
“Go to the studio and play. Come to my house or I’ll come to your house. Go ride horses, go sit on the beach. What do you want to do? Let’s just do something. Let’s get together. And nothing. When the tour came, the first person we called and left all of the messages, sent all of emails, it was Alex Van Halen. Mike and I said, ‘We’re wanting to do this thing.’ Alex’s famous line to me (decades ago) [was], ‘Sammy, we ain’t getting any younger.'”
He continued:
“Mike and I said, ‘Alex, we ain’t getting any younger. We’re going out and playing for the people. We’re going to go honor the Van Halen catalog. Let’s just get together and let’s talk about it. Mike and I, we’re going out, we’re going to do this, Alex. Please join us. Let’s be friends, let’s bury the hatchet, whatever.’ There was no response.”
“I was saying, ‘He’ll come to a show, he’s got to in L.A. or something. I’m sure he’ll come.’ But no, no, he sold all of his equipment. That was his statement. That was like, ‘Nah, I ain’t coming nowhere,'” Sammy Hagar said.
After Eddie Van Halen’s passing back in 2020 at the age of 65 there was a lot of speculation about a possible reunion of the band to play a tribute show in his honor. However, that show never happened and according to Eddie’s son Wolfgang there was someone who was making things difficult, who would be David Lee Roth.