The last album to be released by Van Halen was A Different Kind of Truth in 2012. While often considered one of the 100 Greatest Hard Rock Artists by VH1, Van Halen disbanded after Eddie Van Halen passed away from a stroke in 2020. He was 65 years old. Although marking the end of Van Halen, it seems that his brother, Alex Van Halen, has been working on a special project featuring unreleased songs from Eddie. Although great news for fans, apparently, Sammy Hagar’s invitation was lost in the mail.
Videos by American Songwriter
When announcing the special project, Alex explained that he and his nephew, Wolfgang Van Halen, were completing the unfinished songs. With fans excited and the news hitting headlines, Hagar spoke with Rock of Nations about the project. But he had little to say as Alex never invited him to take part in the project.
And it wasn’t just Hagar, as Michael Anthony wasn’t invited either. “We haven’t been asked, number one. I can tell you, Mike and I, the day I walked in the studio, in 5150, to basically if you wanna call it an audition, but to meet the guys and to play music, we played for about eight hours at least. And we recorded everything.”
[RELATED: Alex Van Halen Confirms Work on Album of Unheard Van Halen Material]
Sammy Hagar And Michael Anthony Take Over Las Vegas
With Hagar admitting that Van Halen had hours and hours of unreleased material, he added, “To me, it’s an Alex Van Halen project, and it’s not necessarily a Van Halen project, but I guess we’ll see if it ever sees the light of day. But I’m disappointed that Mike and I wouldn’t be invited. It’s, like, what? Are you kidding me? We’re still alive. We’re out here doing it.” Hagar continued, “We’re playing those songs. We can still do it, you know?”
While sharing his disappointment, Anthony offered his opinion on the matter. Not wanting to spark yet another feud, he stated, “If this is material that we jammed on or whatever, I’d have no problem coming in and singing or [playing bass] or whatever. It’s all good there.”
Although on the outside, Hagar and Anthony will collaborate with Joe Satriani, Kenny Aronoff, and Greg Phillinganes as they kick off a Las Vegas residency of Van Halen’s Best of All Worlds tour on March 11 at the Dolby Live.
With the Las Vegas residency set to begin, Hagar and Anthony are keeping the music alive onstage, even as questions swirl around the future of Van Halen’s archival material.
(Photo by Paul Natkin/WireImage)
Leave a Reply
Only members can comment. Become a member. Already a member? Log in.