Sammy Hagar wishes he tried harder to mend Eddie Van Halen relationship

Sammy Hagar and Eddie Van Halen managed to mend their relationship before the Van Halen guitarist's death in 2020. They were even planning to work on new music together.

Still, in a new interview with AZ Central the Red Rocker lamented about not doing more to reconnect with his bandmate following their disastrous 2004 tour that was plagued by Eddie's substance abuse.

“Eddie kind of lost it out there,” Hagar recalled. “I mean, he was in bad shape the whole tour. Not trying to bring up a sore subject, but he was not healthy and was very abusive to himself.”

“I just sat there, shaking my head, going, ‘God, that was a terrible experience,’” he reminisced about the plane ride home after the final show. At the time, he was fed up with Eddie's behaviour, but in hindsight, he wishes he'd been a little more understanding.

“No one knew quite what was going on with the guy,” Hagar explained. “Now we know. And it's a little bit easier to understand his frustrations and probably why he was turning to alcohol and drugs more than ever. He knew things that we didn't know, I guess, or was feeling things we didn't know. God bless him.”

“I almost wish I would've known a little more about what was going on with him,” he divulged. “I would've probably tried even harder. I tried as hard as I could to connect us and get him on the good foot and get him healthy. But I would've maybe tried a little harder, maybe been a little more compassionate, instead of saying 'F**k it.'"

Hagar's currently on his "Best Of All Worlds" tour, where he's honouring his time with Van Halen.

- iHeartRadio and republished with permission