Hall & Oates vocalist Daryl Hall has confirmed that he was approached to join Van Halen after Dave Lee Roth left the band in 1985.
Hall confirmed the story in an interview with New York radio station Q104.3's Jonathan Clarke, who asked if rumours regarding the offer were true.
"Actually, yes," confirmed Hall. "I knew those guys really well. We actually shared some people: crew, and things like that. And Eddie came to a show with Valerie [Bertinelli, his then-wife]. This goes back, you know? And David had just left the band.
"And Eddie said, 'Do you wanna join Van Halen, man?' He was half joking, but I think he was serious. I really do believe he was serious. And I took it seriously. I went, 'Meh, I think not. I think I've got my own shit going on.'"
Another singer considered for the role was Scandal's Patty Smyth, who says she turned down the offer because of the band's rock'n'roll lifestyle.
In 2014 she told Delaware Online "They had asked me not to talk about it in interviews at the time, because they didn't want Sammy Hagar to feel like he was the second choice. It was a long time ago; I never bring it up, but people do ask me about it and there's no reason to deny it."
"We talked about it repeatedly. I had several problems with it. I had just gotten pregnant with my daughter; I didn't want to move to California, Plus those guys were partying very hard at that time."
Other singers apparently considered include Steve Perry, who was unsettled in Journey at the time was invited to jam with the Van Halen after Roth's departure, and then-Skid Row singer Sebastian Bach.
"There was talk about it," Bach told Eddie Trunk in 2020. "At the time, they were looking for a singer. But I didn't get to audition."
Daryl Hall will kick off his first solo tour in a decade at the beginning of April (full dates below), with Todd Rundgren in support. He’s also releasing a 30-track solo retrospective, BeforeAfter, on April 1, via Legacy Recordings.
Daryl Hall Tour 2022
Apr 01: Chicago Auditorium Theatre, IL
Apr 03: Nashville Ryman Auditorium, TN
Apr 05: Atlanta Symphony Hall, GA
Apr 07: Northfield MGM Northfield Park, OH
Apr 09: Philadelphia The Met, PA
Apr 11: Boston Orpheum Theatre, MA
Apr 14: New York Carnegie Hall, NY
Apr 16: Oxon Hill Theater at MGM National Harbor, MD
May 12: Seattle Paramount Theatre, WA
May 14: San Francisco, Golden Gate Theatre, CA
May 16: Los Angeles The Wiltern, CA
May 18: Denver Paramount Theatre, CO
May 20: Tulsa Theater, OK
May 22: Austin ACL Live at the Moody Theater, TX
