Eddie Van Halen wanted to record new music with Sammy Hagar before his death, according to Hagar’s new Instagram Live interview with The Washington Post.
“When I [reconnected] with Eddie four or five months before he died, we got together and we kind of made amends,” he said. “It wasn’t, like, ‘Oh, you’ve gotta apologize for this.’ When I talked to him the first time after all of ’em years, I said, ‘Hey, Eddie, I’ve been trying to get a hold of you. I called your brother.’ He [said], ‘Why didn’t you call me?’ I’m going, ‘Well, it’s a good point.’ And I said, ‘I wanted to make sure you were cool with me getting in contact. I didn’t want you to call me some names and hang up the phone and stir the whole thing back up.’
And he said, ‘No, no, no.’ He said, ‘I love you, man.’ And I realized at that point that he had elevated his whole thing. He had come to peace with everything. He knew he was sick. And it was so great to contact the guy when he was in that state of mind. If I had got him six months earlier, it probably would have been, ‘You said this. You said that.’ He was totally above it all and elevated. And, man, I’m so glad that that happened at that time, because if it wouldn’t have, if we had never made peace and he would have passed the way he did, I would feel terrible. I wouldn’t be able to talk to you about it. I wouldn’t know what to say. So I’m so grateful that we connected.
And he said, ‘Hey, let’s make some noise.’ He goes, ‘I’ve got a lot of work to do on myself this year. You ain’t gonna believe it. I’ve been fighting this stuff for 15 years. And now I’ve got this big thing on my neck and my throat right now. I’ve gotta get it all straightened out. And next year, you and I have gotta make some noise. We made some great music together, and I wanna do it again.’ I was just, like, ‘Yes.’ I said, ‘Eddie, that ain’t what I’m calling you about. I’m calling about to see if you’re okay.’ But hearing those things really made me able to handle his death. ‘Cause it’s still tough as hell. I miss the guy.”
