Van Halen's two frontmen, Sammy Hagar and David Lee Roth, haven’t been holding back in the press about their feelings toward each other. And while they may not be friends, that hasn't stopped Hagar from appreciating the music Roth made with Van Halen before he took over.
Van Halen's sixth studio album, 1984, celebrated its 40th anniversary in January and Hagar has nothing but good things to say about it.
“I was a huge fan of that record,” Hagar tells ABC Audio, noting it made him realize Eddie Van Halen was a "genius."
Sammy was particularly impressed by Eddie’s synthesizer work on “Jump,” Van Halen's only #1 single, sharing, "You know, Eddie, I just I fell in love with Eddie with that."
And Hagar says he was even a little jealous after the success of "Jump," sharing that prior to its release he always felt he was on the same level as Van Halen.
“You know, I felt I was in competition until I heard 'Jump' and the song went, you know, it was such a big hit,” he says. “I just went, 'Wow, they did it.' I was mad, I was upset.” He does note that he got over it once Van Halen asked him to join the band.
Roth left Van Halen after 1984 and was replaced by Hagar. They went on to have four #1 albums with him as frontman.
And Hagar plans to celebrate his time with Van Halen and more during his upcoming The Best of All Worlds Tour, which kicks off July 13 in West Palm Beach, Florida. A complete list of dates can be found at redrocker.com.