25 November 2020
Newsdesk
Following the passing of the 'Jump' band's guitarist Eddie Van Halen last month, their long-time manager, Irving Azoff, revealed the classic lineup – singer David Lee Roth, bassist Michael Anthony, drummer Alex Van Halen and his late brother Eddie – planned a final stadium tour in 2019, however, it was shelved after the musician's health deteriorated.
Eddie's son, Wolfgang Van Halen recently clarified that ex-vocalist Sammy, David and Gary Cherone, the latter of whom had a brief stint on lead vocals between 1996 and 1999, would have been included in the shows.
And while Sammy - who was the singer from 1985 to 1996, before returning in 2003 until 2005 - would have been thrilled to be a part of the tour, he admitted that he wasn't so keen on the idea of sharing a stage with David, as he described him as "not user friendly".
Asked if he was aware of the tour plans in an interview with SiriusXM's Eddie Trunk, he said: "It was totally on my radar.
"No one had confirmed any of it, but it was obviously what was gonna happen."
He added: "I wouldn't look forward to having to share the stage with Dave, only because he's not user friendly.
"I love the guy, I love the music, all that, but he's just not user friendly.
"He's always gonna pull something to try to make you look bad and make him look good and all that kind of stuff. But it would have been a blast. Are you kidding me? It [would have been] a dream come true."
Sammy insisted a "Sam-and-Dave tour" is what the fans always wanted.
He said: "I've been an advocate of doing a Sam-and-Dave tour from day one. You go all the way back to the first reunion, when Dave went out with me that time for that tour, that was the idea of it – to try to get the [Van Halen] brothers' attention to do the reunion way back then, and do it again and again and again – I mean, give the fans what they want.”
Eddie passed away at the age of 65, following a battle with cancer.
