Van Halen - Eddie & Alex Talk of Sammy Leaving & Backstage Fight with David after 1996 MTV VMA Show 

I like when Alex chimes in to clarify something no one was confused about

I think Michael Anthony knows the truth about everything that happened. If he wrote a book about it, I would believe him.

This was an extremely enjoyable watch. Thank you for this. I actually think this was the FIRST time I heard Alex Van Halen ever talk. LOL. Excellent video.

Michael is the only sane, honest and decent one amongst all of them.

David was crazy... Imagine trying to reign him in and make multiple albums over years...wow.

I met my hero EVH during the monsters of rock tour.... big mistake he acted the mean drunk that day. I can't imagine dealing with his attitude for a decade or more. It still bothers me to this day.

I'm pretty sure (99%) the Van Halen brothers were on some coke right there.

Sammy tells the real truth .

Alex really does a number hootin’ on that cigarette! 1:53 With those leather lungs you’d think he’d have been a singer!

When you get high and drunk every night till you pass out it has an effect like groundhogs day. You’re stuck living the same day over and over again while the rest of the world keeps turning.

History has shown that Edweird and Alex Van Heineken are just as crazy, probably more.

Sammy never had a bad work ethic ... As much of a head case Roth was... The brothers no doubt take the number one spot here. Once ed leffler died nothing was ever the same...

They did wind up having a tour with Roth before Eddie passed. And I saw it. It was great! RIP Eddie

Came here after see Bill Hader's impression on the VH brothers. Priceless!

Eddie and Alex were awesome musicians but working with them must have been a nightmare

Alex and Eddie at their most dickheadish period of their career. Sammy Hagar does not have a work ethic problem. If you follow his music success, not to mention his business success outside of music, it’s very difficult to say that he has a bad work ethic.

This is when they had Mitch Malloy thinking he was their new singer. Don't forget that

Now all I can hear is Bill Hader's impression of Ed and Alex, lol.

1:25 Somehow I think Ed’s impression here is living rent-free in Dave’s head to this day 😊

Hader fuckin nailed it. Lol

I loved coming back to watch this, every few months... LOVE THIS BAND and these brothers.

I wish there would of been a tour with roth in that era

Thanks for clarifying Al lol

they sound like movie gangsters

I like when Alex is explaining that Dave kept calling them daily asking about going on tour. And I remember Sammy being a guest on “Live From Daryl’s House” and Daryl told about the time Ed wanted him to be their new singer after Dave left. I wonder what it would’ve been like if he had joined, but Daryl considers himself a soul singer!

Ahhhh we were so lucky to have this band. We were blessed.

Eddie and Alex weren’t the most joyful people.

Eddie in his worst drug phase saying Sammy's work ehtic sucked ;D And Alex, when lying, at least take ur glases off ;)

2:40 "I just bit my tongue" Bit so hard he lost a chunk of it.

Eddy and Alex are mean people Dave took them to the top 🔝 and no respect for Dave sad 😔

the full version of this interview is nowhere to be found. the absolute best line is missing. 3:13 Alex adds "and I ain't talkin' about no coffee cup motherf-er"

Roth would have smashed Eddie if he tried to put his hands on him.

No judgement, no judgement... and you better be wearing a cup if you disrespect my hip one more time!

I loved EVH and am gutted we lost him but he wasn't in good shape here. Him and his brother were also really cruel to Michael Anthony. DLR was a jerk at times and believe them here about him but I don't believe the Sammy story. His work ethic didn't suck. His wife had just given birth and he wasn't happy they were releasing a greatest hits album. AVH won't even speak to Sammy now but am glad Eddie and Sammy patched things up before Eddie died.

Right. I’m sure these two are huge Beck fans.

It's clear that Van Halen needed DLR and Hagar to write and structure songs. VHIII was a mess of an album.

wow theses brothers are so tight and real, ED and Alex all the way Damn Eddie is strict but in cool way best Band ever;)

VH was better with Roth. Hagar was better alone.

yeah but no Diamond, no Van Halen.

Eddie is probably right. He did say that Michael couldn't sing and that he (Eddie) had to show him (Michael) how to play bass. And we all know how true that is...LOL

Roth's ego was what made him a great front man. I'm sure that same ego made him impossible to be around. I saw them in '84 with Roth and they were one of the best shows I ever seen. What's weird, is I like them about the same with Hagar. My only complaint with the Hagar years is Eddie seemed to tone back his guitar. Like he was leaving room for Hagar's or something.

2 true brothers till the end

Someone tell Bill Hader the video he's been looking for is here!!! "We'd just be living a lie"...

Eddie was always wasted, tried to smash out windows at 40,000 feet. Treated people like crap but still the GOAT. RIP❤😢

Being in a famous band must be super tricky. Big fragile egos to passify. Balancing act.. especially when one member is SUPER talented and a creative genius.

Roth would have beat EVH to a pulp. Like Daltrey used to do in the Who (except for Entwistle). Moon tried to fight him and got a beating. Townshend hit him with a guitar, Daltrey knocked him the f out. Cold.

I'm just glad someone is looking out for Beck. Poor guy could use a break.

And now we know everything Eddie and Alex ever said was a lie...

I could do without the Alex Van Halen ASMR cigarette drags

I'll take Sammy's word

Watching the video of Dave that night, he definitely looks amped up on something.

You can hear the cigarette filter, when Alex takes a puff at 1: 54 .

Did anyone notice david lee roths mouth looks strange when he laughs. Its like he couldn't open right or something keeping it in that shape.

VERY DISRESPECTFUL TO BECK 😆 😂

I think they played DLR to get those songs on the hits album. Everyone knows Roth wanted to be back in VH badly and they needed the hits album to sell. New Roth songs get it sold. They probably didn't say "You're back in!" but I think they did lay some path to it happening to get Dave to work with them. Then at the press conference it was made clear they weren't really wanting to reunite and Dave probably had the light go off. Everything was a mess at this point. The only way you get the truth is Michael Anthony.

Eddie imitating Dave scatting . Lol

I wish the VH Bros had been on The Californians.😎😂

Never thought a hip could do so much damage.

Too bad really. They had at least one more original 4 album in them before Dave lost his vocal range and I'm guessing it would have been another epic album. Dave certainly had success on his own and kudos to him for that, but Van Halen was a different band all together with Sammy. Good, but very different and to me it was a major loss to the industry and their fans.

Sammy was the best thing that ever happened that VH.

Gentlemen, my ass. You guys tried to destroy Sam, David, and Mike. Yes, Dave can be wonky. I get it. Sam has a my shit doesn't stink attitude. These guys hated Mike simply because he left with Sam. You tricked Dave into wise magic, making him think an album was forthcoming. Finally, did you see the reaction of the crowd when Dave walked out? I guess you missed that.

I think Eddie was probably a real prick in real life and Alex just agreed with everything. It was always them against the world.

V.h. boys trying to not be the instigators...but it's really were.j.s.

I love Eddie but I think the shit about Sammy’s work ethic is a joke. Look at Sammy, he is always working. These two guys here were always drunk,stoned or passed out. They could not get along with Sammy and they could not get along with Dave. Sammy is doing fine and has lots of friends getting along with everybody. These two guys just were loaded too much, this contributed to Eddie’s death.

These wannabes ain't like DLR, man. Never. Eddie Van Halen was a pretty good guitarist, but he wouldn't have ever gotten famous without David.

I feel so sad for those 2. They were very pathetic here, full of crap. Sad how they end, One is gone to soon (RIP) and the other is in a cover band

Bill Hader brought me here .

I like how Alex says we're gonna get a little bit nasty now.

It’s a shame Eddie was weighed down by health issues as it would have been fascinating to see him record some non commercial, Avant-gard artistry that he had always seemed to desire to make as a very genuine innovator and experimenter

Bill Hader is looking for this video🤣😂🤣😂

The only person in this whole drama who ever comes off clean is Mike. Dude just wanted to play and have a good time amongst all these drama queens.

They went behind Hagar’s back to record with Roth, then blamed him for quitting. They kick Roth to the curb after going behind his back and hiring Cherone and blamed him. They fired Michael Anthony after denying him royalties and blamed him for not contributing. It was always everyone else

I'll tell you EXACTLY what happened. Drugs. Drugs happened.

I'm sorry, but Eddie isn't going to whip anyone's ass.

The drugs that caused Ed to fire both lead singers eventually killed him, not the metal picks

Looking back at these interviews with the brothers it's more evident who the problem really was in VH and it wasn't Dave or Sammy. Eddie gave us a new way to look at, listen and play the guitar, but his ego was way too big especially without anyone to push back on him (you get VH III as a result). The way they ended up treating Michael Anthony and the ridiculous assertions by Eddie about his talent and bass playing abilities...so sad that he was so miserable.

I wish Eddie spoke as happily as he looks when he’s playing

Bill Hader's imitation of the two Van Halen brothers is spot on.

Sammy had a bad work ethic? Nobody believes this.

Seems like nobody can get alone with van Halen brothers

Zippity zappity zoopity zip o" boomolah zippity zapppity bop. Quote: David Lee Roth.

Let's see...Eddie and Alex bitched about Roth, Eddie and Alex bitched about Michael, Eddie and Alex bitched about sammy, Eddie and Alex got rid of Gary. I think honestly, EDDIE AND ALEX ruined Van Halen, NOT the past members

I’m amazed how petty the Van Halen brothers are?

Never told Roth he was back in the band but appeared on MTV with him....what a disaster this was!

Eddie is a talent of a generation, I graduated high school in 1984 so his guitar was everywhere, and I enjoyed every moment of it, but with the fights with Roth, Hagar and Anthony, the only common denominator is Eddie, there's 2 sides to every story.

The Van Halen’s are real swell guys. In their world, they have no problem with you as long as your Van Halen.

Hate to say it , but Roth could've kicked Eddie's ass. I say that with all due respect to Eddie.

Eddie imitating Dave has me in tears lol😅😅😅

I love Eddie. He’s my favorite guitarist of all time. That being said, always remember that every story has two sides and the truth usually lies somewhere in the middle.

That's a messed up deal. And to say Sammy had a bad work ethic? Eddie was really going bonkers about this time. Lots of drugs,lots and of alcohol,but big brother didn't try to step in and stop the mayhem. Strange.

One word. Egos!

No judgment, no judgment lol

Such a waste of exceptional talent on a couple of losers, it’s just sad that it took so long for us to get see all of these different interviews and see it for ourselves, we all wanted to believe eddy and Alex so bad back then. I love eddies music but his greed and narcissism coupled with his idiot brother is what really killed this band, his many addictions were just the accelerant.

Makes me SICK seeing Eddie and Alex trashing Dave and Sammy as human beings

4 consecutive number 1 albums with Sammy Hagar , his work ethic was fine , there is something more to this than they are telling ....RIP Eddie =VH=

I am waiting for Alex to enlighten us on a few things. I know it will be worth the wait!

The root cause of Sammy leaving the band was Van Halen's beloved manager, Ed Leffler, had died and the new manager(Ray Danniels', the husband of Alex's wife's sister) revealed to Eddie and Alex that Sammy had been paid more on their Right Here, Right Now Live album. Danniels also revealed that Sammy had a "Golden Parachute" if the band broke up Sammy was guaranteed a solo album with the record label. Obviously, the VH brothers were super pissed and made Sammy pay them back their fair share, which Sammy did..and the solo album deal was also cancelled. Naturally, the VH brothers knew they couldn't trust Sammy ever again and they started treating him like shit, taking back control of the band, telling Sammy to change this song, redo this track, etc. In the end they drove Sammy crazy until he finally flew back to Hawaii then Eddie called him up and said it's over. Now, stepping back let's look at Ed Leffler(the good manager). Ed knew how to manage the band, he went to bat for them, everybody loved him. In Leffler's eyes Sammy had been in the rock business 10 years longer than VH and yes, Sammy was practically running the band by himself, with the VH brothers basically a train wreck. Why not give Sammy a little more for the work he was doing? If Leffler would have lived the band would've stayed together he was the glue to it all.

What's really funny, is that the band was supposed to get together at that reunion, in what was supposed to be a fun and joyous occasion. Ended up being "You ever speak to me like that again, you better be wearing a cup" 😅😂

Alex is just a parrot of whatever Eddie says, probably never had a original thought in his life

Diamond Dave may have been loose cannon so enter Hager.. That appeared not to gel as well.. BUT when you DUMP Anthony the Bass Player for Eddie's Son Wolfgang it entirely puts things into a different perspective.. Would like to think most get the picture here..