After years of rivalry and fan-fueled comparisons, Sammy Hagar has taken a gracious tone regarding David Lee Roth’s recent return to live performance. With Roth back on stage after a five-year hiatus, Hagar is framing the moment not as competition, but as a shared legacy.
The original Van Halen frontman made his comeback on May 3 at the 2025 edition of the M3 Rock Festival in Columbia, Maryland. The show, clocking in at 75 minutes, saw Roth dive deep into the Van Halen catalog, backed by guitarist Al Estrada and a vocal-heavy support band featuring four backing singers.
In a public Instagram post, Hagar offered his perspective: “If I may add my two cents here, comparing us today or comparing us in the old days is not what it’s all about. It’s all about Van Halen, one of the greatest bands, some of the greatest songs in rock history. We were both involved and both had pluses and minuses.”
This marked a notable shift in tone from the sometimes tense commentary both singers have exchanged over the years. Rather than measuring his success against Roth’s, Hagar emphasized the enduring power of the band’s music.
“I am happy that Dave is out there doing it like Mikey (former Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony) and I,” he continued. “Supporting some of the greatest rock songs in history, like I said. The fans deserve it, good or bad. I believe we’re both doing our best, and I’m actually happy. Dave is supporting his era, and I will support mine as well as my solo career and side projects for the rest of my life. Everyone should enjoy what we’re both trying to do. Keeping the music alive and his legacy is important, and so is the music both Dave and I wrote with Eddie.”
It’s a rare acknowledgment of mutual purpose: preserving and performing a body of work that helped define American hard rock. Van Halen may have had two iconic frontmen with two very different approaches, but Hagar seems to be calling for unity around the music rather than division around personalities.
Roth’s return also puts renewed attention on the eras of Van Halen‘s discography. While Roth’s highest-charting effort with the band was the No. 2 peak of 1984, a position matched decades later by A Different Kind Of Truth in 2012, Hagar’s tenure saw the band hit No. 1 with each of his four studio albums.
That commercial success was part of the dynamic when both singers hit the road together in 2002 for the famously awkward “Sammy Hagar And David Lee Roth Tour 2002: Song For Song, The Heavyweight Champs Of Rock And Roll”.
