Former Van Halen lead singer Sammy Hagar spoke to The San Diego Union-Tribune and revealed whether there are any unreleased songs from his era. Also, he shared his ideas and thoughts about the late Van Halen icon Eddie Van Halen’s own ‘jamming stuff.’
Sammy Hagar joined Van Halen in 1985 after the band’s original frontman David Lee Roth left them to pursue a solo musical career, and Eddie Van Halen was positively surprised by Hagar’s vocal performance as Montrose’s lead vocalist. During the Van Hagar era, the band produced several hit and best-selling records, ‘5150,’ ‘OU812,’ ‘For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge,’ and ‘Balance,’ but Hagar had to leave the band after a decade of working together.
Sammy Hagar and Eddie Van Halen had creative and personal differences, especially about Van Halen’s projects. The last straw was when Hagar couldn’t join a recording session because his son was born and he should support his wife. Therefore, Following Hagar’s departure, the band reunited with David Lee Roth in 1996, but it fell apart again. Van Halen went through different lineup changes until their second reunion with Roth.
Van Halen was only able to release one studio album, ‘A Different Kind of Truth,’ and they were about to start the new one, but Eddie Van Halen’s passing on October 6, 2020, brought Van Halen’s end. Hagar recently stated that Eddie Van Halen probably had some unreleased records, ‘jamming stuff,’ which could be released now. However, they used every good song in his era, and it would be disrespectful to the band’s legacy if he released unfinished or changed versions just for money.
Hagar said in his interview the following:
“Van Halen didn’t have many songs that were completed that didn’t come out. Maybe there’s some stuff we could add background vocals to or that I could write new lyrics for but I’m leery about doing that. Because the legacy of Van Halen is so great, and — prior to me joining the band — the legacy is pure greatness: Eddie’s guitar work, the band’s playing, the songs.
Anything leftover wasn’t good enough to be on those records. I don’t care what anyone says; putting out (unreleased music) wouldn’t do anything other than make someone a little money. However, I know Eddie had a ton of unreleased jamming stuff he made on cassette tapes because that’s how we wrote songs… So, maybe. Who knows what they could put together?”
Consequently, it can be said that Eddie’s brother Alex Van Halen or son Wolf Van Halen could work on the legendary late guitarist’s cassette tapes if they decided to release some hidden gems from Van Halen’s early works. Although it seems unlikely for now, even the possibility of that made their longtime fans very excited.
