Why A Wall Was Built Between Sammy Hagar and David Lee Roth In 2002 Tour

The 2002 reunion of Van Halen with former singers Sammy Hagar and David Lee Roth became one of the most unexpected events in music history. However, tensions were high, leaving those who are involved with stories to tell.

Sammy Hagar has discussed the wall that was placed backstage to separate him and David Lee Roth during their iconic tour. According to him, things have become so bad between the Van Halen members that they have to actively avoid each other on tour just to survive. Nonetheless, he persisted in asking Roth to perform with him whenever he had the floor.

In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, Hagar spilled the beans. “That tour was successful. The idea was to get Van Halen’s attention and get us both back in the band. … A reunion tour with both of us would have been the biggest thing Van Halen ever did. But it didn’t work out that way because Dave doesn’t play well with others. He just made a mess out of it.”

When asked what made the two singers decide to build a wall apart from each other, Hagar replied: “I think that’s production managers and tour managers getting in the middle of our bullshit. They made the wall since we nearly got into fisticuffs one night. The promoters were like ‘Oh, we gotta keep these guys apart. This tour’s doing too well. We don’t want to see it break up because there’s some lawsuit.’”

You can watch one of Dave and Sam’s performances below.