Van Halen icons Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony were interviewed by SiriusXM host Eddie Trunk earlier this week. During the interview, the former Van Halen frontman explained how he came very close to getting David Lee Roth to perform at his High Tide Beach Party & Car Show, along with Michael Anthony. This could have seen Roth share a stage with Michael Anthony for the first time since 1984, the longest awaited reunion of original Van Halen members. He said that Roth wanted to perform, but ultimately couldn’t do it. He also referenced how Roth had been ‘waiting’ for the 2019 Van Halen original lineup reunion tour that ended up falling apart. Alternative Nation transcribed their comments below:
Hagar: Just to set the record straight, from the bottom of my heart, those first Van Halen records in 1980 up to 1984 were great records.
Trunk: Oh yeah.
Hagar: I take nothing away from that.
[Crowd claps]
Hagar: Without that, I could of walked into a band like that without that happening first and had the success we had. You know what I mean? We became a stadium act anywhere in the world and that’s all number one albums. You don’t start that way. It’s almost like Dave (Lee Roth) did all the dirty work and I said “Hey!” Nah, I’m joking.
Trunk: You told me you reached out to Dave to actually perform at last year’s High Tide.
Hagar: Yeah he was that close to coming on, I wish he would of done it.
Trunk: Really?
Hagar: Yeah.
Trunk: What about the next one?
Hagar: I’ll ask him again, I’ll ask him again. You know Dave, he was waiting on that Van Halen tour like everybody else.
(Crowd laughs)
Trunk: That’s the thing, nobody is singing in Van Halen! Sammy’s not, Dave’s not, that’s the real tragedy. There is nothing with anybody. Unless Gary Cherone is waiting for his phone to ring, which is possible.
(The crowd, and Sammy ooooohs)
Sammy: You kn-
Trunk: I don’t mean that as a diss at all, I love Gary!
Sammy: Extreme is on the High Tide this year.
Anthony: My buddy Gary will be there.
Trunk: There you go!
