David Lee Roth Pokes Fun at Sammy Hagar and Eddie Van Halen’s Ghost
There are two things I love in life (for the sake of this story), and that’s spooky shit and throwing shade. David Lee Roth surprisingly gave me both of those delights to wake up to and I thank him for it.
Ya see, kookie character Sammy Hagar, has stated quite a few times before how his late bandmate Eddie Van Halen has visited him in dreams before, apparently giving him the idea for their single “Encore, Thank You, Goodnight.” While performing “Dance the Night Away” at a recent show at Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom in Hampton Beach, New Hampshire, Roth came for Hagar about his nocturnal visitor, but it seems like it was all in good fun…?
On mic, Roth said:
“One of my esteemed colleagues — he’s a contemporary, he’s got a great voice, he’s got a great catalog. You all know Sammy Hagar, right? He’s got a great voice. And Sammy, aloud, he described to the media about six weeks ago that the ghost of Eddie Van Halen visited him and graced him with a song that he memorized and then went home and recorded. It’s on the Internet.
“I don’t know what the odds are, but last night the ghost of Eddie Van Halen visited me at the fucking hotel room. I was watching the weather report and he came in and he was laughing. His fucking ghost was laughing. I said, ‘What did you do now?’ He said, ‘Dave, Dave…’ Actually, you want me to do his accent? [Adopts Eddie’s accent] ‘Hey, Dave.’ He said, ‘Dave, you know that song I gave Hagar?’ I said, ‘What now?’ He said, ‘It’s actually [Iron Butterfly’s] ‘In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida’ backwards. Don’t fucking tell him.’ This all stays in this room, right? I laughed. We shared a ghost cigarette, a ghost Marlboro. Not one of those pussy-ass white ones, but the [Marlboro Reds]. And I hugged my brother Ed, and I said, ‘Man, do I fucking miss you.’ And he said, ‘I miss you too, Dave.’ He said, ‘But you know what? You should still go to hell.’ And I said, ‘Save me a seat.’”
Hagar first starting speaking of this encounter about three years ago. He told Ultimate Classic Rock:
“About two months ago, I had this dream and Eddie [Van Halen] came. It was just like he’d been gone. It was not like he was passed, but he had just been out of my life and we hadn’t seen each other for a while. He’s going, ‘Man, let’s write some music!’ I said, ‘Yeah, fuck it, man. Here, let’s go!’”
I think this is absolutely beautiful. Let’s hope that Eddie visits him again with their next big release.
