Sammy Hagar Took Jabs About David Lee Roth’s Voice And Stage Persona

Hagar Says He Enjoys Watching Roth “Do Stupid Shit”

In a recent interview on Brazil’s Inside With Paulo Baron, Sammy Hagar discussed his former late bandmate Eddie Van Halen and the singer he replaced, David Lee Roth.

While Hagar apologized for painting EVH in a negative light on his 2011 book Red: My Uncensored Life in Rock, he didn’t have plenty of nice things to say about Diamond Dave. Among Van Halen fans, it’s fairly common to compare both eras especially since Hagar and Roth have different styles when it comes to singing and performing.

“He’s a real character. He’s a showman. He’s all show. I enjoy him,” Hagar said about Roth. “But you talk about cringing. I can’t imagine how he feels when he looks at some of them old videos, the way he was dancing and moving, and the way he was singing live sometimes. I don’t know how he feels about all that, but I don’t think he cares.”

“The difference between him and I [is] I sincerely care,” he continued. “What is important to me is enlightening and elevating people spiritually and making them happy and making them have big dreams, making them want to be better themselves. And my goal with everything I do is to bring that to people and change their life, if I can. I don’t think [Roth] cares about anything like that.”

“And that’s the difference between our presence. He’s very much into himself, very much into being a showman and doesn’t really care,” he concluded. “I don’t know what he cares about, I really don’t. I don’t know him. I have no idea who that guy is. I don’t think anyone does. But he entertains me. I enjoy watching him do stupid shit.”

Hagar also announced his Las Vegas residency with the Circle.