Despite estrangement, Sammy Hagar wishes Alex Van Halen a happy birthday

By Jill Lances May 8, 2026 | 5:00 PM

L-R Eddie Van Halen, Sammy Hagar, Michael Anthony, and Alex Van Halen of Van Halen circa 1985 in Los Angeles, California. (photo by Ann Summa/Getty Images)

In a 2025 interview with Rolling Stone, Sammy Hagar said that he hasn’t spoken to his Van Halen bandmate Alex Van Halen in 21 years. But that distance didn’t stop Sammy from wishing Alex a happy 73rd birthday on Friday.

“Alex, I know these wonderful magical times have passed, and of course will never happen again,” Hagar wrote on Instagram next to a video of Van Halen’s final bows at a 1995 show in Austin, Texas. “But I want to wish you all the peace, love and happiness in the world as well as a happy birthday.⁠”

⁠The post included a comment from former Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony, who wrote, “Definitely good times!! Happy Birthday Al.”

While Alex has never come out and said what his issues are with Sammy, he did seem to diss him in his 2024 book Brothers, by not even acknowledging the years Sammy was frontman of Van Halen, which produced four #1 albums for the band.

In fact, the book focused on only the David Lee Roth years, and Alex only sort of acknowledged Hagar and their third frontman Gary Cherone, by writing, “we had a lot of other singers over the years.”