Eddie Van Halen and Sammy Hagar: Our 1987 Interview, Part 1 (Audio)

After the 5150 Tour, Eddie and Sammy Provided This In-Depth Interview

Welcome to my podcast featuring the first part of my July 14, 1987, joint interview with Eddie Van Halen and Sammy Hagar. The afternoon of the interview, Eddie, his wife Verlie Bertinelli, and I traveled by limousine from a hotel to Sammy’s spacious home in Mill Valley, California, where Eddie, Sammy, and I sat down on his patio and had this conversation.

By then Sammy had already sang on Van Halen’s chart-topping 5150 album, he’d completed a major tour with the band, and he’d just released his self-titled solo album. Eddie had co-produced the album with Sammy, and we began our interview by talking about how Eddie came to play bass on Sammy’s record, which has since been re-released as I Never Said Goodbye. From there, we delved into many aspects of their collaborations, both on Sammy’s album and in the band Van Halen.

At more than 80 minutes, this would be one of the most in-depth and revealing interviews they’d do together.

Portions of this conversation were transcribed for my October 1987 cover story for Guitar Player magazine. I took the solo photos of Sammy and Eddie (with bass) seen during the video soon after the interview. The magazine cover photo is by Ray Olsen.

I hope you enjoy this unique recording, and be sure to check out the many other historic Van Halen interviews on the Talking Guitar YouTube channel. Thanks to engineer/producer Nik Hunt for enhancing the sound of the 36-year-old master tape.

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