David Lee Roth on Alex and Eddie Van Halen: 'We've always hated each other'

Back in December, David Lee Roth teased a Van Halen reunion this summer, however former bassist Michael Anthony recently revealed that the “plug got pulled” on the idea.

Now, speaking to the Marc Maron’s WTF Podcast about his relationship with Eddie and Alex Van Halen, Diamond Dave revealed there is still plenty acrimony between them: “We have always hated each other, right up until the last phone call.”

Reflecting on his decision to quit Van Halen in the mid-eighties, Roth explained: "Why did it fracture? 'Cause all rock bands fracture. It turns into diverse interests. People have the friction of time. And that friction is family; that friction is… sometimes it's partying, but I don't know if that's what really separated Van Halen.

 "There were always creative differences," Roth continued. "We never got along. It was a beautiful, beautiful pairing of… You've seen cowboy movies where the guys are always sabotaging each other but they're working to somehow accomplish something. And I think you'll see that in a lot of popular bands.

“They may have gotten through it, but I don't know that we ever really grew up and became gentrified. Now, that may not be a good thing; a part of me remained 23 years old forever."

Asked if he could ever go out for a meal with Alex and Eddie Van Halen, Roth replied: "Nope. Not even close. Not even close. This is not a golf club. This is a little closer to 'The Wild Bunch'. There is a fury and an antagonism, and what comes out of that is, when it's good — oh, man."

Van Halen’s last show took place at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles in October 2015.

Speaking in Issue 15 of Planet Rock magazine, Sammy Hagar dismissed the idea he had a “rivalry” with David Lee Roth.

He told us: “It wasn’t even a blip on my radar. I don’t respect Dave’s artistry, but I do think he’s clever and a great showman and what he did with Van Halen in the early days was fantastic. Van Halen couldn’t have made it without him.

“God bless Dave, but he refuses to acknowledge that Van Halen with me was even more successful than Van Halen with him, and that’s very stupid of him.

“That’d be like me not acknowledging what he did for the band before I joined: that would be stupid wouldn’t it?”

You can read the full in-depth Confessional interview with Sammy Hagar in Issue 15 of Planet Rock magazine, which is on sale now.