Sammy Hagar is calling for "peace" amid his longtime spat with former Van Halen bandmate Alex Van Halen.
Van Halen, 73, whose feud with the former frontman and guitarist reignited upon the release of Hagar's 2011 autobiography, "Red: My Uncensored Life In Rock," said during a recent interview with Brazilian music magazine Roadie Crew: "I don't know what he wrote, and I don't want to know. In my opinion, Sammy Hagar is a complete idiot."
In the book, Hagar, 78, discussed Eddie Van Halen, Alex's brother, and the star guitarist's alcoholism.
Reacting to Van Halen's comment in a post shared by Rock Celebrities, Hagar wrote: "this comment and post is so unnecessary at this time in our lives, but I guess the truth hurts sometimes. Peace already."
Hagar would work on new Van Halen tracks 'if I got the call'
Hagar was with Van Halen for over a decade, from 1985 until tensions with the Van Halen brothers erupted in 1996, before briefly reuniting with the band for a worldwide tour in 2004. Hager has also toured and performed with former bandmembers David Lee Roth and Michael Anthony.
In Hagar's 2011 autobiography, he opened up about Alex and Eddie Van Halen's drinking contributing to his fallout with the brothers during their 2004 reunion. And though Van Halen was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2007, only Hagar and Anthony appeared at the induction ceremony, as Eddie Van Halen was in rehab. Eddie Van Halen died in October 2020 at 65 from throat cancer.
In 2021, he reflected on the book and said he regretted the level of "angst" with which he wrote about his falling out with the Van Halen brothers.
"I kind of wish I would have been a little more conservative about the Van Halen years. But I was angry when I wrote the book. They threw me out of the band, and they did it ruthlessly," he said on the "Rock This With Allison Hagendorf" podcast. "God rest Eddie's soul, I love him to death. But him and his brother are pretty tough guys to deal with if they go against you. They really made it harder on me at a weird time in my life."
In early 2026, Hagar told USA TODAY that in light of Alex Van Halen working on unreleased music created by Eddie, he would work on the new tracks if he "got the call."
"[Alex Van Halen] has the right to do anything he wants with his brother's stuff, but it's really a shame," he said at the time. "I would love to write a song with Eddie again."
He continued: "I understand he's got some problems with me. But if I got the call, I would drop just about everything, except for my live shows, to do the right thing for that. It would just be so exciting to work with Eddie again in any way."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Alex Van Halen calls ex-bandmate Sammy Hagar a 'complete idiot,' Hagar reacts
