Sammy Hagar hopes that Wolfgang Van Halen can play a role in the Best Of All Worlds tour in the future, with the vocalist also reiterating that his invitations for David Lee Roth and Alex Van Halen to join the party are still on the table.
Hagar was hellbent on creating the ultimate celebration of Van Halen with the Best Of All Worlds tour. So much so that, speaking on the Eddie Trunk podcast, he’s kept the door open for other Van Halen alumni.
After months of gear oggling and speculation, the tour – with Joe Satriani stepping into play Eddie Van Halen’s electric guitar parts, Michael Anthony reprising his role on bass and Jason Bonham on drums – kicked off earlier this month.
Over two-thirds of the set is made up of Van Halen material, with Hagar and Anthony singing a number of David Lee Roth-era songs.
Hagar has now said he wants to prolong the party with tours in South America and Europe, and he hopes that, if but for one night only, Wolfgang Van Halen can feature at some point down the line.
However, the chances of Wolfgang ever linking up with the Best Of All Worlds crew will all come down to logistics. As Hagar concedes, Wolfgang Van Halen is a very busy man.
“Wolf is more than welcome,” Hagar tells Trunk. “What is it Kings and Queens do? I’m gonna put a command performance on Wolfie if he’s in town. But he’s out there working hard man, he’s playing the world. You can’t expect him to jump off a stage to jam with us but I’m sure our paths will cross.
“I'm telling you, we’re gonna continue this thing. We've gotta take this to South America, we've gotta take it to Europe, we've gotta go to Australia.”
When the tour was first announced, there were few out there who didn’t feel Satriani was the right man for the job. Hagar has since admitted that “a million guys could do it”, but added that only Satch truly understands Eddie.
Of the rest of the assembled band, Michael Anthony’s return was a welcome one, but some eyebrows were raised regarding the absence of OG drummer Alex Van Halen. As Hagar explains to Trunk, he didn’t want it to be this way.
“I just don’t think Alex wants to play with other people,” he says with an accepting sigh. “I think he’s still heartbroken about his brother, I don’t think he could stand up there and put his heart and soul into it like he would with his brother.
“If Alex wanted to play, Jason would stand up and give him his sticks. He looks up to him that much. I made the call to Al before I did Jason. I reached to Al more than once: No reply. And he sold his stuff, that’s quite the statement.”
Indeed, the drummer putting his gear up for sale was a clear indication of where his head is at right now. Michael Anthony reflected on the news, saying, “It's the end of anything that could have been tribute-wise”, but Hagar is determined to keep the flame burning.
Despite their chalk and cheese differences, Hagar says David Lee Roth is still welcome to play a part on the tour, too.
“The guy’s unpredictable, god bless him, but he likes to upstage people,” he says. “I’d love for him to come out and sing Jump at the end of the night.”
Of all those possibilities, it feels like a Wolfgang cameo is the most likely, even if he is insanely busy with Mammoth WVH.
In related Best Of All Worlds tour news, Satriani has been playing a custom-made 3rd Power tube amp, which was designed to replicate Eddie’s 1986 guitar tone. For those wanting a taste of the tour at home, it has now been released as a plugin, with a physical head and combo amps releasing later this year.
