Bad news for fans hoping to see David Lee Roth join Sammy Hagar’s Best of All Worlds tour, as the Red Rocker reports things have gone silent between him and his Van Halen predecessor.
When Hagar first announced the tour, focusing on Van Halen’s classic material, he extended an invitation for Roth to join. Diamond Dave initially expressed interest, however when Hagar clarified that the offer was simply to guest on a song or two, rather than participate in the entire trek, Roth reportedly went silent.
“He went AWOL,” Hagar explained during a recent interview with Sirius XM’s Eddie Trunk. “After (clarifying the offer), he just kind of went to sleep on it, which is fine. I don’t need Roth antagonizing me.”
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Hagar insisted the ball remains in Roth’s court regarding a possible appearance, but suggested that such a move would seemingly go against Diamond Dave’s personality.
“If he really wanted to come out and play music, sing a song and be real and not try to pull some crazy whacked out stuff,” Hagar explained. “You know, the guy’s unpredictable. And God bless him, he’s been an entertainer his whole life and he’s a showman and he likes to upstage people and that’s been his game. And so, we’re just not into that.”
“I would love him to come and sing ‘Jump’ at the end of this show,” the Red Rocker continued. “Just you come out and sing the fucker instead of me.”
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Though a Roth appearance remains unlikely, Hagar has made a point to perform material from Van Halen’s early days.
“The songs we’re singing, the rock tunes, we’re doing ‘Ain’t Talkin’ ‘bout Love’, we’re doing ‘Panama’ and we’re doing ‘Jump’,” he noted. “And quite honestly, I think that’s enough. I don’t want to overdo it and make it look like I’m, patronizing or whatever.”
Sammy Hagar Put up $1.5 Million to Make Best of All Worlds Happen
Elsewhere in his conversation with Trunk, Hagar revealed he’d personally invested more than a million dollars into the Best of All World tour.
“I put a million-and-a-half dollars into our production,” the singer confirmed. “When you do that, it just brings the level of the whole thing up – the video wall, everything about it, the lights, the sound, I just got the best of the best and I’m feeling good about it.”
The Best of All Worlds tour kicked off July 13 in West Palm Beach, Florida and is scheduled to conclude Aug. 31 in St. Louis.
Van Halen Lineup Changes
Three different singers and two different bassists joined the Van Halen brothers over the years.