Sammy Hagar Blasts Eddie Van Halen for His Comments in Interview
LOS ANGELES - Sammy Hagar has blasted former band mate Eddie Van Halen in a video rant that claimed the guitar phenom lied in an interview about having to teach former Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony how to play the bass for the band's songs.
Hagar defended Anthony in a youtube video where he a two-minute video titled "In Defense of Mikey," where he defended his former Van Halen (and current Chickenfoot) bandmate while telling Eddie Van Halen, "You're a liar!"
""It's really irritating to see them go after Mikey. Mikey didn't do anything, ever, to Van Halen. Mikey was the most loyal guy in the band. He was the first guy there at rehearsal and the last guy to leave," Hagar said about Anthony, adding that "[he] never did anything to hurt those guys and they tried to hurt him again, and again and again."
Van Halen complained about Anthony in a Billboard interview where he said "Every note Mike ever played, I had to show him how to play. Before we'd go on tour, he'd come over with a video camera and I'd have to show him how to play all the parts."
"For Eddie to say he had to tell him what to play and then teach him all those songs, is the biggest line of bullshit in my life!" he said. "I was in the band for 11 years and there was never a video camera involved of Eddie showing him what to play. Eddio would tell him what to play once in a while, say 'No Mike, don't play to that many notes, just stay on one note so that I could fuck up and nobody would know it.'"
Hagar went on to say: "Especially during the '04 Reunion Tour. If Mike would've played more than one note, it would have showed Eddie wasn't playing the right chords againg and again and again. I couldn't sing to him. You couldn't play bass to him."
In his interview, Van Halen also criticized Anthony's vocals, saying: "Mike’s voice is like a piccolo trumpet. But he's not a singer. He just has a range from hell. Mike was just born with a very high voice. I have more soul as a singer than he does. And you know, people always talk about Mike's voice on Van Halen songs, but that's a blend of Mike’s voice and my voice. It's not just him."
Anthony, however stayed diplomatic in his response: "I am proud to say that my bass playing and vocals helped create our sound. I’ve always chosen to take the high road and stay out of the never-ending mudslinging, because I believe that it ultimately ends up hurting the Van Halen fans."
Here's the video:
