If You Can’t Beat ‘Em, Join ‘Em: How Van Halen Protected Themselves Against Alice in Chains

When you’ve been in the industry long enough, you get better at seeing the writing on the wall, which is why Van Halen knew that if they wanted to protect themselves against the influx of bands like Alice in Chains, they would have to get creative…and cordial. Starting in the late 1980s, glam and hair metal began slipping from their spot as the most popular form of rock ‘n’ roll, thanks to the introduction of grunge.

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Grunge music was an antithesis to the leather and cheetah print days of glam metal. It was a wave of fresh, flanneled air, spearheaded by Pacific Northwest bands like Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and, of course, Alice in Chains. Van Halen, while not the glammest of all glam bands, was still very much in the old guard of rock ‘n’ rollers.

And as the old adage goes, if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. So, that’s what Van Halen did.

How Van Halen Held Their Own With Alice in Chains

Refusing to adapt to a changing market is the quickest way for any business to go down fast. The music business is no different. As Sammy Hagar explained during a 2019 appearance on the Jenny McCarthy Show, Van Halen knew that younger grunge bands were liable to push them out of chart positions, touring dates, and, more broadly, general public favor. As Van Halen and other bands like them watched this gristly, sullen wave of grunge wash over the country, Hagar said, “That was freaky, man.”

“I’m looking at these guys, and, you know, we were sort of the glam rock. All dressed up and dressing like girls. It was more fun dressing like that than the way I dress now,” Hagar said. “But then when grunge came, and they were, like, you know, down and dirty and funky. Yeah, they made me nervous. I thought, ‘These guys, they’re gonna disrespect us.’ You know they’re gonna look at us, ‘Yeah, your s***’s done, buddy.’ And it didn’t happen.”

Hagar was grappling with intense insecurity about the rise of a new style of rock ‘n’ roll that was threatening to push his career out of the limelight. So, Hagar offered Alice in Chains an opening slot on a Van Halen tour. Alice in Chains had just released “Man in the Box,” and Van Halen wanted to start associating themselves with younger bands so as to not alienate or lose this part of their audience demographic.

A Business Move That Helped Either Side Improve

Sammy Hagar’s stroke of genius to put an up-and-coming band like Alice in Chains on their 1991 For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge tour ended up being an immensely beneficial decision for both the burgeoning grunge band and their tour hosts, Van Halen. Not only did Van Halen maintain or gain new relevancy to younger fans of underground grunge music. But Van Halen also taught the still-green band how to win over a crowd of people that didn’t know them.

Speaking to Ultimate Classic Rock in 2021, Hagar recalled watching Van Halen fans grow restless and irritable in the crowd as Alice in Chains performed cuts that most of the audience didn’t know. “Man in the Box” was a recognizable hit, but the grunge band kept putting the song toward the end of their set. “I said, ‘Open with “Man in the Box,” you dumb f***s!’” Hagar laughed. “They’re going to say, ‘Oh, that’s who those guys are!’ You know, nobody knew who they really were.’” 

Alice in Chains took Hagar’s advice, and audience response improved “immensely,” the Van Halen singer said. At a time when it seemed like the mainstream market was too crowded to offer multiple forms of rock ‘n’ roll, Van Halen and Alice in Chains’ 1991 tour together was a wonderful example of the old cohabitating with the new.

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