Sammy Hagar Recalls Last-Ever Conversation With Eddie Van Halen: “What Took You So Long?”
The successful musician Sammy Hagar – known for his golden career with Van Halen from 1985 to 1996 – recalled the last-ever conversation he made with his former bandmate Eddie Van Halen and paid his tribute to him weeks after his death.
On October 6th, one of the greatest, Eddie Van Halen, has left us due to cancer and passed away at the age of 65. He upset people deeply with his sudden passing but left an inspiring legacy behind him.
In a new interview with KSHE, Sammy Hagar admitted that his close friend George Lopez called him to call Eddie and that everyone said at the time that Eddie Van Halen, who struggled with cancer, was not doing good.
“I reached out to Eddie because – George Lopez, the comedian, who I’ve known for a long time and who also is dear friends with Eddie, he calls me up and says, ‘Sammy, I need you to call Eddie. I played golf with him. He’s not doing good…’
“And everyone knew Eddie wasn’t doing good. He said, ‘I just was with him, and he said he loves you and he’s so disappointed that you haven’t reached out to him.’ I said, ‘I reached out to all these people. I reached out to Alex [Van Halen, drums]…’”
While continuing his words, Sammy revealed which people he contacted to reach Eddie Van Halen. After that, Sammy Hagar remembered Eddie’s first reaction when he called him and said that Eddie asked him why he called him so late.
“I didn’t have Eddie’s contact number. I reached out to all these people… ‘Tell Eddie I love him. I hope he’s doing well…’ So George says, ‘Here’s his number. Call him.’ So I call him.
“And Eddie said – my favorite line from Eddie in a long time – he goes, ‘What took you so long?’ I go, ‘I reached out to Al. I reached out to everybody.’ He’s going, ‘You didn’t call me.’ And I said, ‘Oh, man. Ed, I love you.’”
Sammy Hagar concluded his words by saying that it was tough for him and that it was really saddened.
“And it was just one big love fest from then on. That was back at the beginning of the year, before COVID. So, yeah, we’ve been texting and talking about Wolfie [Wolfgang Van Halen] and his new record, and about us and the things we did, and how great the stuff is…
“It’s really a sad thing. It was a tough one. But if I wouldn’t have contacted Ed – and we buried the hatchet like that and became friends again – I’m not sure how I could have taken it. It would have been devastating.”
