Sammy Hagar has revealed he would cancel his own show if it meant he could perform at a tribute concert to the late Eddie Van Halen. The vocalist also shared his final texts with the guitarist, during his appearance on Kyle Meredith With... on the Consequence Podcast Network.
Although there hasn't been any official confirmation of a tribute concert taking place just yet, Hagar reveals he would clear his schedule for the possibility to play at one, stating “Whoever wants to call me up and say, ‘Here’s the date,’ I will be there. I don’t care where I am.”
He continues, “I’ll cancel a show — something Van Halen would never do... I went out sick without being able to sing. Eddie went out with a crutch. Alex went out with a f–kin’ neck brace. We wouldn’t cancel shows. But I will cancel my show for a tribute to Eddie any day.”
Of course, with the live circuit being at a standstill due to lockdown, any plans of a potential tribute has so far just been speculative thinking. Hagar explains, “there’s not a lot of word of [a tribute show yet]. We gotta get back to work first. They gotta allow us to be in the same place, because that’s not gonna be a social-distance event. Let me tell you that!”
During the podcast, Hagar also reveals that he reconnected with Halen via text just months before his passing, after years of “problems” between them.
“I sent him one of [our new recordings]. I don’t remember which one. I sent it to him in a text. And he sent me some of Wolfie’s stuff. We were sharing music.”
He continues, “Eddie and I had our problems for so many years, and then reconnected right before COVID. Our texts and conversations were plain and simple: ‘Hey man, how you doing?’ And he started opening up to me about how sick he was: ‘Dude, I just had this tumour on the side of my neck.’"
"I was just always checking on him to see how he was doing. And that was our relationship, it was pretty cool, like, ‘Hey, when can we get together. Hey Ed, tell me when you’re ready, and I’ll cook you a big ol’ spaghetti dinner.'”
The Red Rocker recently released the Lockdown 2020 album with his band Sammy Hagar & The Circle.
