Alex Van Halen calls Sammy Hagar 'a complete idiot' as decades-long feud between bandmates deepens

Alex Van Halen has some thoughts about former bandmate Sammy Hagar.

During an interview with Brazilian music journalist Marcelo Vieira published earlier this month, Alex ripped into Hagar when asked about his 2011 memoir, “Red: My Uncensored Life in Rock.”

“I don’t know what he wrote, and I don’t wanna know,” he said, according to a translation from the original Portuguese interview published by Roadie Crew. “In my opinion, Sammy Hagar is a complete idiot.”

Hagar, who replaced Roth as lead singer of Van Halen in 1985, remained with the band until 1996. He later reunited with the group in 2004 for a reunion tour.

The singer has suggested that Alex’s health problems and inability or unwillingness to continue playing drums may have contributed to the tension. Hagar speculated that Alex could be frustrated that he and Anthony continue to perform Van Halen songs while the drummer is no longer touring.

Hagar told Rolling Stone in April 2025 that he and Alex had not spoken in 21 years.

“I hate to say it, but I dreamt about Alex the other night, man,” he told the magazine. “It was crazy. And it was so friggin’ real. I was saying, ‘What are you pissed off at me about, man? What the f—? Now, just tell me what your problem is. What did I do? Just tell me.'”

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Hagar said he thinks Alex is upset with him “because I’m out doing it, and Mike [Anthony] and I are out doing it, and he can’t. He’s not a singer. He’s not a guitar player. He is not really a band leader. And he seems like he doesn’t want to play drums or can’t play drums anymore, and he can’t go write a new record.”

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“Alex wasn’t the songwriter in the band,” he continued. “He was the drummer. Eddie and I wrote the songs. Dave [Lee Roth] and Eddie wrote the songs, and so we can go out and do them. And I think that really bothers him that Mike and I are still out there doing it. I would feel bad. If I put myself in his shoes, I would feel terrible if I couldn’t do it anymore.”

Alex’s criticism also follows Hagar’s previous claims that he tried repeatedly to reconnect with his former bandmate, including while assembling the “Best of All Worlds” tour. Hagar said he and Anthony reached out to Alex “a dozen times” before the tour but received no response.