By Josh 
Sammy Hagar recently took to Instagram to call out Alex Van Halen for leaving out a pretty important chapter in his memoir, Brothers. The chapter in question? The Van Hagar era, when Sammy himself was fronting the band.
Hagar didn’t hold back, accusing Alex of committing “blasphemy” by ignoring the era when they made some of the band’s most successful music. The memoir focuses heavily on Alex’s life with his late brother, Eddie Van Halen, but stops short of talking about the huge success they had after David Lee Roth left in 1985.
Alex, on the other hand, explained his perspective in the book, saying, “What happened after Dave left is not the same band.” He went on to talk about the magic of the early days when they were just figuring things out and trying whatever came to mind.
Then, Hagar stirred things up further when he posted a pic on Instagram from 1991 showing him and Eddie heading for the stage together. One fan commented, “Most purists believe VH ended with DLR,” and Hagar’s response was quick and blunt.
Hagar fired back: “It could have [ended], my friend, but instead we went on to sell over 50 million records for a No. 1 album [then] sold out every building and stadium in the world for a whole decade.” He added, “That never happened again.”
Hagar didn’t stop there. He went on to blast Alex for not recognizing the Van Hagar years, calling it “blasphemy” to not acknowledge all the No. 1 albums and killer music that he and Eddie wrote together. He said, “To not acknowledge those 10 years of music is blasphemy to his brother’s musicianship, songwriting, and legacy.”
Alex, however, wasn’t backing down. In a recent interview with the Bringing It Back to The Beatles podcast, he explained why he feels the way he does. “The original band was the driving force,” Alex said. “That’s why the book ends in 1984, because that was true rock and roll. After that, it became much more — I don’t know; I can’t explain it. But it’s not to say it wasn’t any good. We always did our best, but it wasn’t the same.”
Looks like the Van Halen brothers aren’t the only ones who have a complicated legacy!