Sammy Hagar has accused Alex Van Halen of profiting from the band’s past in a way that he believes is harming Van Halen’s legacy.
Sammy Hagar: “[Alex] wants to just keep releasing all this old stuff and these photographs and charging people for old pictures that you could find on the internet.”
“You should be putting them out there for free. To me, he’s doing a lot of stuff wrong for the legacy of Van Halen.”
Former Van Halen singer Sammy Hagar talked about Alex Van Halen’s newest book project, a photo collection which comes with a previously unreleased early Van Halen demo, after Alex called him a “complete idiot” in a recent interview, and explained why he thinks Alex is harming the Van Halen legacy.
The remarks arrive amid a fresh round of public back-and-forth between the two former bandmates, which has pushed questions about the band’s archive and legacy back into the spotlight.
The dispute reignited after Alex Van Halen dismissed Hagar’s 2011 memoir, Red: My Uncensored Life in Rock. The drummer made the comment in an interview with Brazilian music journalist Marcelo Vieira, who translated Alex’s book Brothers into Portuguese, saying, “I don’t know what he wrote, and I don’t wanna know. In my opinion, Sammy Hagar is a complete idiot.”
That comment set the stage for Hagar’s response on SiriusXM’s Trunk Nation with Eddie Trunk. Hagar answered with humor before turning serious, saying, “Guilty as charged, first of all. I’m probably the most successful idiot on the planet.”
Alex’s current book project sits at the center of the disagreement. Coverage of the project has described it as featuring rare and archival Van Halen photos alongside an unreleased early Van Halen demo, which has fueled debate over who should control and distribute the band’s history.
The tension between Hagar and Alex is not new, but it has become more visible in the years since Eddie Van Halen died in 2020. The feud between the two men reignited with the release of Hagar’s autobiography and has continued as the surviving members revisit the band’s legacy through books, interviews, and archival projects.
Hagar has said repeatedly that he does not understand where Alex’s hostility comes from. Hagar told Eddie Trunk he had no desire to get into a “tug-of-war” with his former bandmate, even as he questioned the direction of the band’s legacy projects. That contrast — Hagar calling for peace while criticizing how Van Halen’s archive is being handled — frames his latest comments about the photos and demos he believes should be shared with fans for free.
