Van Halen, Sammy Hagar team up again on summer tour

By THOMAS BOND
Get Out

The writing was on the wall.

After splitting acrimoniously in 1996, singer Sammy Hagar was thinking about a reunion with hard rock heavyweights Van Halen. He told Get Out in May of last year, “I was part of it for 11 years and it was awesome and I’d be happy to be part of it again if it was in good spirits. If they called me tomorrow, I’d say, ‘Let’s talk. Let’s hang out and see if we can be friends.’ ”

In the end, though, it was Hagar who picked up the phone and dialed drummer Alex Van Halen.

“I made the call to Al, but it was not in any business sense. It wasn’t like, ‘Hey, let’s get back together,’ ” the singer says. “I happened to be in Southern California with my family vacationing at a resort at the beach and I’m going, ‘You know, I’m going to give Alex a call.’ And then I finally did. We talked for so long it was like, ‘Hey, why don’t you just come on down here?’ We hung out with our families and it was just awesome.”

Alex felt the same way.

“Sammy and I got together, and it was like we hadn’t missed a beat,” the drummer says. “We picked up right where we left off, and the moment we hit the studio and started making music — which for us is where it always began — then that kind of solidified it. Making music is the center of this band and the friendship.”

As Hagar had continued his relationship with bassist Michael Anthony after his departure from Van Halen, the only fence remaining to be mended was with guitarist Eddie Van Halen. The singer picked up his phone again.

“I just called him and it was great,” Hagar says. “The whole point of being older is time going by and water going under the bridge — whatever it is, you kind of forget what happened or why you were mad to begin with and what all you said.”

With the initial conversations taking place at the end of last year, the re-teamed quartet recorded three new songs for their just-released greatest hits package, “The Best of Both Worlds,” while simultaneously preparing for a summer tour.

“We only had time to do three songs to make this happen, and I think these three songs are well worth the wait,” Hagar says. “They say a lot about who and what we are right now.”

One of the new songs, “It’s About Time,” references the joy the quartet feels at making music together again. But, as good as the vibe was in the studio, it pales to the thrill of performing live, they say.

“It’s an awesome feeling and it's one you can't get anywhere else in your life,” Hagar says. “I mean, you’re lucky if you get this once in your life, but to be able to get that every night is not only motivating, it’s addicting.”