Huh boy, this one could get hairy if any Van Halen or David Lee Roth fans decide to chime in. But there are arguments as to why Sammy Hagar would be seen as the best Van Halen singer, and Neil Sarver from Quora would no doubt chime in with his two cents just as much as anyone. The whole David Lee Roth and Van Halen split was something that gained massive amounts of attention back in the 80s since Van Halen had a legion of fans that were willing to do whatever it took to make it to their shows and were fiercely loyal. The act of splitting up essentially tore the fan base right down the middle in some cases as some followed Roth and others followed Van Halen. But when it came to Sammy Hagar some folks were accepted and others didn’t seem to approve of the change.
The whole Van Halen/Roth split is, as Greg Renoff from Ultimate Classic Rock seems to say, a matter that was known best by the band and was heavily conflated among the fans and anyone and everyone else that heard about. In fact if you asked some folks they might tell you wild story of how Roth and Van Halen parted on less than amicable terms when in truth they were actually sorry to see the union end. In truth the Roth and Van Halen split was a lot more amicable than the Hagar and Van Halen split since the former actually liked working with one another it seemed while the latter tended to get on each other’s nerves quite often if what you read from Jeff Giles, also of Ultimate Classic Rock, would have you believe. This could be part of why Hagar was considered by some to be the better of the two however since he had his own style and was usually quite opposite in what he wanted from the band. You know what they say, opposites attract, even if that attraction eventually leads to a split like it did for Van Halen and Hagar.
It’s hard to say which singer was better since quite honestly both men helped to take Van Halen to different heights and both were pretty much revered by the fans. But in terms of comparing the two and arguing for Hagar you could say that he was more inclined to be the better man since he was already established as a solo artist before being picked up by Van Halen. Some might even go so far as to call Roth more of a showman and Hagar the whole show. He was great on his own or with Van Halen as many people would and have claimed over the years, and despite the love that so many people had for Roth and the disdain they had for Hagar, it was kind of evident that Hagar did seem to have a firmer hand when it came to matters of the band. It was Eddie Van Halen’s band without a doubt, but for some people the comparison of Roth and Hagar was like night and day. One of them was a definite thrill to watch and to listen to, while the other was David Lee Roth. The Red Rocker, as Hagar has been called, was someone that came with a lot of experience and in fact his time with Montrose was actually part of the inspiration that started Van Halen in the first place, so you could say that Hagar was instrumental in their success in some way.
This is an argument that’s been going on among fans for decades now and quite honestly some folks have finally gotten tired of it and accepted the opinions of others, but the more diehard individuals have decided to not let it go and will gladly argue about it until they’re blue in the face. The whole issue of who was the better Van Halen singer, Roth or Hagar, is something that has actually caused fights in the past since some folks do get rather passionate about their music and simply won’t accept any other argument that doesn’t enforce their own. Even hitting them with facts, record album sales, and other various trivia does nothing to sway their opinion. Some are Roth fans and some are Hagar fans, that’s just the way it is and seems to be the only way that some people know how to look at the equation.
Quite honestly both men were great in their time and they did a lot to help the band, but if there’s an argument for why Hagar is better it has to be the fact that his music helped define and even build Van Halen before Roth came around. Once Hagar was part of the group things lasted for a while before falling apart, but he came with a lot more experience it seems.
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