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Sammy Hagar Changes His Mind About Van Halen Reunion

08/13/2013
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Sammy Hagar has once again addressed the idea of reuniting with Van Halen, but unlike the sentiment he expressed earlier this year that he would be open to the idea, he seems to have now closed the door on the possibility in a new interview with Rolling Stone.

Hagar was discussing the special guests on his forthcoming album 'Sammy Hagar and Friends' and was asked about any big name stars that he wanted to be on the effort but were left off. In a follow-up question he was asked about the idea of a duet with David Lee Roth. He answered that question and he expressed his overall feelings about Van Halen.

Here is that section of the interview: "It's so hard! Because, probably, if he came to me, f**k yeah. I'll do anything. But to go to him and put myself in that vulnerable position, I would get probably the wisest f**king crack that ever came out of his mouth. I don't think Dave wants to sing with me. I don't think Dave wants to be in the same room with me, to be honest with you. I don't know if I intimidate him or if I piss him off or if he just flat don't like me, or if he's afraid of me. I don't know what it is, but he and I do not get together. We tried. I gave it every shot I had on that tour. And I could care less. I mean, I'm totally over the guy.

"As a matter of fact, the whole idea of Van Halen � people ask me all the time, 'What if Eddie called you up and asked you to be back in that?' I just hope he doesn't do that. I'm so past it, and I'm so happy and proud of what we did, I wouldn't want to tarnish it again like that '04 tour. And now what they're doing, acting like I was never in that band, just playing all that early material . . . How can they do that?

"But Dave can't sing it, so what the f**k. It is what it is, and I'd just as soon let it be. Let them finish it off in their own way, and whatever happens, it's all good. I would love to be friends with those guys. Michael Anthony is one of my dearest friends, and I don't see why Ed and Al shouldn't be that, someday, in our lives. But until then, it's all fine.

"I don't want to go backwards anymore. At my age, I have a hard enough time rehearsing and playing those old songs at a rehearsal. And I certainly can't go back and listen to them. I just want to keep moving forward, and I'm so anxious to play my new songs in the set that the thought of going back and playing with a band that hasn't recorded since 1994 or something like that � ewww. That sounds painful to me.

"You don't want to go back and re-tarnish. Van Halen was so great and is so special for the time that they had their reign, that to leave that alone � they're smart, in one sense, in that they don't do a lot. When they do, everybody's horny again: 'Oh sh*t, I got to go see it again!' I'm proud of being in Van Halen. I really am. I'm really proud of that time in my life. It was great sh*t, man."

See who else he wanted on the album and why Metallica frontman James Hetfield took a pass here.

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