After years of hoping for a reunion with Van Halen — or to at least be on speaking terms again with his former band mates — Sammy Hagar says he finally reconnected with Eddie Van Halen earlier this year.
Hagar made the revelation in a note he passed along to The Howard Stern Show.
"Eddie and I had been texting, and it's been a love fest since we started communicating earlier this year," Hagar wrote. "We both agreed not to tell anyone, because of all the rumors it would stir up about a reunion, etc., and we both knew that wasn't gonna happen. But he also didn't want anyone to know about his health."
Hagar continued, saying he got an inkling that the guitar legend wasn't doing well when he went dark again in September.
"He stopped responding to me a month ago, and I figured it wasn't good," Hagar continued. "I reached out one more time last week, and when he didn't respond, I figured it was a matter of time. But it came way too soon."
In the comments of an Instagram post in which he wished Eddie peace, Hagar suggested that he and Eddie had repaired their relationship and that he would "explain another time when this has digested."
Van Halen enjoying its greatest commercial success with Hagar in the band from 1985 - 1996, recording a string of four consecutive No. 1 albums.
Hagar's split with Van Halen in '96 was messy, and the reunion tour in 2004 was even worse by most accounts.
When the Red Rocker started publicly calling for a reunion a few years ago after the deaths of David Bowie and Glenn Frey, he admitted that he hadn't spoken with Eddie or Alex Van Halen since their last tour as a band. Adding to Hagar's frustration was that both brothers routinely ignored his efforts to reach out directly.
Hagar later explained that he wanted to make up with the Van Halens so as not to be "buried with any regrets or bad vibes like that."
Eddie Van Halen died on Tuesday at age 65 after a years-long battle with throat cancer.
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