In a recent story that he posted on his own YouTube account, Sammy Hagar discussed an illicit activity that he and Eddie Van Halen engaged in while living next door in Malibu. He declared:
“So one of my favorite memories about anything that happens in a car besides, you know, the first time you had sex in a car – that’s a whole other story. But this, on 5150, Eddie Van Halen had a Lamborghini Countach, I have my 512 Ferrari Boxer, Mick Jones, our producer from Foreigner, he had a Corvette he rented.”
Sammy continued, recalling that it occurred around “Best of Both Worlds” (2004):
“At about 2:00 in the morning, after we finished recording, I think it was ‘Best of Both Worlds’ to be honest with you, and we were all staying in Malibu. Eddie and I lived next door to each other, and Mick Jones had rented a house out there. So we drove back, the three of us up Mulholland Drive, all through the back roads on Highway 1, racing three cars because there was no traffic. We should have been in jail, all right. But we scathed; it was unbelievable. We just raced the whole time like you get somebody on a three abreast on a two lane road. So frigging dangerous, but we did it and we survived it. I’d never do it again, and I don’t recommend it.”
Hagar Glad They Could Talk Before Eddie Van Halen’s Death
Sammy Hagar discussed his text discussions with Eddie in an interview with Fox News earlier this year. Eddie passed away in October 2020 at the age of 65 following years of cancer treatment.
“Well, to be able to have talked to Eddie and had a wonderful rapport with him on text, it means everything to me. If he would have died and we would have not ever said ‘I love you’ to each other again, I would feel really bad. I probably wouldn’t be able to talk… I wouldn’t be able to talk to you about it.”
Creative disagreements caused a rupture, and in 1996 Van Halen fired Hagar from the band. From 2003 to 2005, Hagar was back with the band, but even while they were on tour together, their public arguments persisted.