Music

Sammy Hagar has some vile words for Eddie Van Halen

by Richard Howard

Eddie Van Halen is kind of a dick. Sorry, them’s the facts. He’s got that thing where his genius is inversely proportional to his ability to interact normally with other human beings.

Nowhere is this more pronounced than with his bandmates, both current and past. While Eddie’s family members (drummer/brother Alex and current bassist/son Wolfgang) get a pass, pretty much every other person who’s ever been in Van Halen has been slagged mercilessly by the guitar god. Even when they’re still in the band, as evidenced by his brutal tirade against David Lee Roth.

However, Eddie saved his best snotty nobleman impression for former bassist Michael Anthony. You could almost see him looking down his nose as he claimed he had to show Anthony every note the bassist ever played and that, despite Anthony’s signature backing vocals, he was a crappy singer that was “just born with a very high voice.” Then someone told Sammy Hagar about the interview. And Hagar lost it.

“It’s really irritating to see them go after Mikey. Mikey didn’t do anything — ever — to Van Halen. Mikey was the most loyal guy in the band,” Hagar said in a videotaped interview. Then, as the singer got visibly more pissed off, diplomacy went out the window.

Calling Anthony “one of the greatest rock and roll bass players in the world,” Hagar ended with a few choice words for ol’ EVH: “Michael Anthony is a bad motherfucker. Fuck you, Eddie Van Halen, for saying that about Mikey. You’re a liar.”

Classic rock smackdown tally – Hagar: 1, EVH: 0.