Sammy Hagar Says It's 'Very Important' That He 'Buried a Hatchet' with Eddie Van Halen Before His Death

"If he would have died and we would have not ever said 'I love you' to each other again, I would feel really bad," Hagar said of his late bandmate

Sammy Hagar is opening up about how he repaired his relationship with Eddie Van Halen before the iconic rocker's death in 2020.

In a new interview with Fox News, the former Van Halen vocalist and guitarist spoke about having conversations with Eddie over text before he died at 65 in October 2020 after a years-long cancer battle.

"Well, to be able to have talked to Eddie and had a wonderful rapport with him on text, it means everything to me," Hagar, 75, told the outlet. "If he would have died and we would have not ever said 'I love you' to each other again, I would feel really bad. I probably wouldn't be able to talk… I wouldn't be able to talk to you about it."

He added that it "means a lot" that he's able to "feel good about talking about being in Van Halen now."

Related: Sammy Hagar 'Heartbroken and Speechless' Following Death of Bandmate Eddie Van Halen

"'Cause I feel like we buried a hatchet. To where otherwise I'd be saying, 'Well, those guys…' 'Cause I was mad, I was hurt," continued Hagar. "It's very important that we connected, yeah."

Hagar and Van Halen first became bandmates in 1985, when Hagar stepped in to fill vocalist David Lee Roth's spot after he parted ways with the "Jump" band. Hagar left the band himself in 1996, but he reunited with them years later on The Best of Both Worlds tour in 2004.

After departing Van Halen, Hagar slammed his ex-bandmates several times in the press. He's since reflected on becoming estranged from Eddie, telling USA Today earlier this year, "What happened with us at the end was such a shame."

"It's what happens when alcohol and drugs are involved, and I'm going through a divorce. It's such a shame. If Van Halen were still together today, we'd be headlining every one of these festivals all over the world," he told the outlet.

Related: Sammy Hagar Recalls Final Phone Call with Eddie Van Halen: 'It Was a Beautiful Thing'

Elsewhere in the interview, Hagar praised the late Eddie's talent. "I miss his unique creativity," he said. "He’d play something and I’d go what, where the hell did that come from? He was so out of left field, so original, that creativity always lifted me."

In a 2020 interview with Variety, Hagar recounted the heartfelt final phone call he had with Eddie before his death. "Poor Eddie, broke my heart, but thank God we connected before [he died]," he said at the time. "I heard he was in bad shape and I wanted to reach out; I finally said, ‘I’m just calling him.'"

Hagar explained to the outlet that he was initially unable to connect with Eddie since he no longer had his former bandmate's phone number.

"I was calling his brother, I was calling his manager, I was calling his friends, and I'd say, 'Hey, tell Ed, give him my phone number. Tell him if he ever wants to talk to me, I really, really want to talk it out, help him and see what I can do,'" Hagar said. "I [told them], ‘I want to be his friend, I want to bury the hatchet,’ but they never got it done."

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Eventually, their mutual friend George Lopez helped put them in contact.

"George is a dear friend and he was Eddie’s friend and he said, 'Sammy, Eddie’s in bad shape, he loves you brother, you need to reach out.' I said, 'Give me his f---ing number and I’ll make sure I call him,'" Hagar continued.

Once Hagar and Van Halen spoke on the phone, their longtime bond was restored. "I said, ‘Why don't you respond? I've been reaching out,' and Ed said, 'Why didn't you call me? Don't f---ing call my brother, f---ing call me!'" Hagar recalled. "And I said, 'I love you man,' and it was like, boom, we were good. It was a beautiful thing."

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