Last week, Sammy Hagar released a new song called "Encore, Thank You, Goodnight" that was inspired by a dream he had about Eddie Van Halen. The Red Rocker spoke to Rolling Stone about the song and his upcoming Las Vegas residency that will showcase his full career, including his time with Van Halen. During the conversation, his 21-year feud with Alex Van Halen got brought up. Hagar admitted he still isn't sure why exactly the drummer won't speak to him, but he does have his own theories.

"I dreamt about Alex the other night, man. It was crazy. And it was so friggin’ real," Hagar said. "I was saying, ‘What are you pissed off at me about, man? What the f**k? Now just tell me what your problem is. What did I do? Just tell me.’”

The interview suggested that Alex might be upset because Hagar detailed “the worst period of Eddie’s life” in his 2011 memoir, Red: My Uncensored Life in Rock, but he doesn't think that's the case. “I don’t think that’s it,” he said before sharing some other theories he's heard. “And I’ve had this conversation with a few people, including [former Van Halen manager] Irving Azoff. I’ve asked him, ‘What’s the problem?’ And some people have said to me, ‘Oh, Cabo Wabo. At one time, Van Halen, when you built it, you guys were all partners in that. And then they didn’t want it anymore when it was losing money, and they gave it to you, and you turned it around and made hundreds of millions of dollars on it. And they’re angry. Alex is angry about that.’”

“To that I said, ‘How the f**k could they be angry about that? They gave me the d**n thing, they walked out on me, left me with it," he noted. "And they made me indemnify them in case I got sued and lost everything. They made me sign off big time.’ And I’m going, ‘I hope it’s not that.'”

Then the singer-songwriter gave his own theory of why Alex is so upset. “I think Al’s angry because I’m out doing it, and [bassist] Mike [Anthony] and I are out doing it, and he can’t,” Hagar divulged. “He’s not a singer. He’s not a guitar player. He is not really a band leader. And he seems like he doesn’t want to play drums or can’t play drums anymore, and he can’t go write a new record. Alex wasn’t the songwriter in the band. He was the drummer. Eddie and I wrote the songs. Dave and Eddie wrote the songs, and so we can go out and do them.”

"I think that really bothers him that Mike and I are still out there doing it," he continued. "I would feel bad. If I put myself in his shoes, I would feel terrible if I couldn’t do it anymore. But I’m the happiest guy out of all of them. That pisses people off in itself. Being too happy, people don’t like that.”

The interview then pointed out that Alex might be frustrated about how his own health issues are preventing him from performing, and Eddie’s passing in October 2020, to which Hagar agreed. “Yeah, I’d say so," he said. "And I’m okay with it. Al, you’re fine. Just leave me alone. I’ll leave you alone. Everything’s good. I’m making you money, by the way, Al. I’m out there selling Van Halen records and keeping the name alive, keeping the music alive.”

Hagar's "Best of All Worlds" Las Vegas Residency kicks off Wednesday night (April 30) at Dolby Live at Park MGM.

Podcasts