SAMMY HAGAR Slams DIAMOND DAVE (Again),Addresses VAN HALEN Reunion

Sammy Hagar, who, along with fellow ex-VAN HALEN frontman David Lee Roth, spent last summer co-headlining the laboriously titled "Sammy Hagar and David Lee Roth Tour 2002: Song for Song, the Heavyweight Champs of Rock and Roll", is once again dissing Diamond Dave's oversize ego and deteriorating singing voice.

In an interview with Cleveland's Music's Bottom Line conducted on Tuesday (June 24),Hagar slammed Roth's stage antics, saying "[my] show is interactive, and Dave's show is all about 'watch me… watch me at all times.' The first night in Cleveland, he wasn't so bad, that was his best show… as that tour went on though, he deteriorated… There were nights where he was just like… hearing his voice from the backstage, we'd be back there laughing, it was sad. He'd be opening for us, and he'd be driving all night on that bus smoking cigarettes, doing who knows what... and the next night he'd get to the gig and go right straight onstage and we'd be backstage… it was embarrassing, because we'd be back there just laughing at him — he sounded like a guy imitating David Lee Roth! (laughing) . . . I threw a party! Dave thought he WAS the party! Like, 'watch me… I'm having a party you fuckers!' He's pissing on them, sprinkling his whiskey on them and shit… he treated the audience like shit."

Hagar also touched upon the possibility of a reunion with VAN HALEN, explaining that "the Sammy fans out there think that the only way that VAN HALEN's ever going to do it is to get back with me. The Dave fans would love to see a reunion, but if they've seen Dave recently, I think that they've gotta know… I'm not down on Dave… well, yes I am down on Dave, but he became an asshole on that tour. I was all for Dave for a while, when I approached him and said, 'Let's do this tour together,' I was all for Dave, but after going out there with him and seeing how he is on stage and listening to his voice… I mean, he can't do it. He's not what he used to be, and there's no question about it. So even those hardcore Dave fans who think they want to see that reunion with VAN HALEN, it would be one time for the big-time, and then it would be like, 'Whoa!' They can't make a new record [with Dave]… They tried that! If they could do it… they tried with Dave three times, and they couldn't do it, so… HE couldn't do it, it's not them, it's him. And with me, one thing of course is that at least we could do all the material! (laughing) I mean, we know that I can sing ALL the material, I mean… I think I'm a better singer now than I was when I was in the band, that's the truth — you can listen on [my new] live record. I'm singing [VAN HALEN's] 'Right Now' and 'Dreams' — I'm singing 'Dreams' at the end of an hour-and-forty-minute-long concert, and I'm hitting those notes 'cuz I hit them on the record, so I'm saying to myself… I know I can do it. It's kinda like… it's not my goal, because I love my band so much. It would be so hard if those guys [VAN HALEN] came and hit on me to do it again, and I went down and jammed with them, and I KNOW how great we would be — it would be SO hard for me to say, 'I've got to let my band go.' That would break my heart. I would feel worse than I did when I was thrown out of VAN HALEN, I mean I was pissed off. This would make me feel the same way, probably make them feel the same way I felt, and I love my band, so it would be really difficult, so I'm just sitting here cruising on down the road — I hope those guys never do anything ever again, because then I won't be tempted! (laughing) If they got a hold of me, I don't see how I could say no, if we were friends again — I don't see how I could say no."

(Thanks: Matt Wardlaw / Music's Bottom Line)