Nothing is certain except death, taxes, and the ongoing drama between Van Halen’s David Lee Roth and Sammy Hagar. During his show on August 13 in Hampton Beach, NH, Roth took a moment to talk about Hagar and his song “Encore, Thank You, Goodnight.” Hagar revealed that the song was inspired by a dream he had featuring Eddie Van Halen.
Roth addressed the audience, saying, “One of my esteemed colleagues, Sammy Hagar, has a great voice and an impressive catalog. You all know him, right? About six weeks ago, he told the media that the ghost of Eddie Van Halen visited him and shared a song that he memorized and recorded. It’s out there on the Internet.”
Roth then added, “I don’t know what the odds are, but last night, the ghost of Eddie Van Halen visited me in my hotel room. I was watching the weather report when he appeared, laughing. I asked him, ‘What did you do now?’ He said, ‘Dave, you know that song I gave Hagar?’ I replied, ‘What now?’ He said, ‘It’s actually ‘In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida’ backwards. Don’t tell him!’”
As of now, Hagar has not responded to Roth’s comments. Hagar first mentioned the dream that inspired his song back in August 2022. He described a dream where Eddie appeared and suggested they write music together. Hagar recalled that Eddie played a riff in the dream, which reminded him of something Eddie had played during the 2004 Van Halen reunion tour. After waking up, Hagar remembered the song and wrote it down.
Stay tuned for more updates on this legendary rock rivalry!
