Sammy Hagar Reconnected With Eddie Van Halen Before Guitarist’s Death

In recent years, Sammy Hagar has made a concerted effort to reconnect with his onetime bandmate Eddie Van Halen, and it was revealed on Howard Stern's SiriusXM show Wednesday (Oct. 7) that the two musicians had privately been in contact prior to Eddie's death this week.

Stern revealed the news, sharing a letter Hagar had written and sent to him about their renewed friendship. "Eddie and I had been texting, and it's been a love fest since we started communicating earlier this year," said Hagar. "We both agreed not to tell anyone, because of all the rumors it would stir up about a reunion, et cetera, and we both knew that wasn't gonna happen. But he also didn't want anyone to know about his health."

The former Van Halen vocalist added, "He stopped responding to me a month ago, and I figured it wasn't good. I reached out one more time last week, and when he didn't respond, I figured it was a matter of time. But it came way too soon."

Hagar initially started trying to bridge the divide back in 2016, sending the guitarist a Happy Birthday message on his birthday. He later explained that as he was getting older, he didn't want to have any regrets. He explained in 2016 after seeing a series of rock star deaths, "It makes you want to be just friends with everybody and say, 'Hey, look, forget it.' Even if you don't want to be in a band together, just let's be friends. No more enemies for me. You don't want to go to your grave with enemies. So that's what it's done for me. It woke me up and said, 'No more enemies.' And before I die, I won't have any, if I have my way."

Earlier this year, Sammy Hagar reached out to Eddie's son, Wolfgang Van Halen, praising him for how he's handled the approach to expectations as his solo album nears. The two shared a cordial exchange on social media with Wolf thanking Sammy for his kind words and telling him he couldn't wait for Hagar to hear the album in full.

Upon news of Van Halen's death, Hagar posted a photo tribute online with the caption, "Heartbroken and speechless. My love to the family."