Sammy Hagar says only one thing would inspire him to reunite with Van Halen
In a fresh interview, Sammy Hagar has opened up about the possibility of ever joining forces with Van Halen again.
After years of caustic words Sammy appeared to bury the hatchet with Van Halen in 2016; first sharing pleasantries with Eddie Van Halen on Twitter and then issuing a public apology to Eddie and Alex on the Oprah: Where Are They Now TV show.
Despite these positive signs, Sammy maintains that relations are still sour with Van Halen: "Let's put it like this - when it came to my birthday, I didn't get a message so obviously that camp, (Eddie) and Al, still have some kind of trip against me.
“I'm certainly not looking to get back in that band when I've got Chickenfoot sitting in my lap and I'm scared to grab the reigns of that one. Van Halen would be twice the nightmare of the workload and the anxieties about getting along or being worried about being stabbed in the back again or something. I don't want to put myself in that situation, that's for sure."
Sammy then added a “but you never know” and suggested he’d be interested in a reunion if Michael Anthony was drafted back in on bass and David Lee Roth traded off vocal duties with himself on the respective songs they recorded with the band.
"That's really the only way I would be interested in a Van Halen reunion," Sammy told Billboard.
"Everybody's saying, 'Well, what would it take?'. For me, no money, man. I don't need money. I would do that for the fans and give the money to food banks or something. I'm not sure anybody else would agree with me, but that would interest me enough to sit down across the table from everybody and work that one out."
Elsewhere in the interview, Sammy ruled out recording a new album with Chickenfoot despite the recent unveiling of the song ‘Divine Termination’.
"I love the band. I love those guys," Sammy said. "But the commitment it takes to go in and make a great record is six months, for me to shut my world down for that is hard, as much as I love it."
Sammy recently launched his unique mezcal and tequila drink Santo Mezquila in collaboration with Maroon 5 singer Adam Levine.
The second series of Rock & Roll Road Trip with Sammy Hagar is also currently airing Stateside that sees Sammy travel across the U.S. to interview and jam with artists including Mick Fleetwood, John Mayer, Toby Keith, John Mellencamp, Rick Nielsen.