Sammy Hagar says he is determined to rekindle his friendship with Alex Van Halen, adding: "It's on my bucket list that I will not take this to my grave."
Red Rocker Hagar enjoyed two spells as frontman with Van Halen but he and drummer Alex Van Halen have not spoken to each other in years.
Hagar and Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony have performed together in recent years, and the singer says he has repeatedly invited Alex to take part. But, he says, those invites have fallen on deaf ears.
Alex has recently released a book about his late brother Eddie, titled Brothers. The book barely makes mention of Hagar and Alex says the spiritual part of Van Halen died when original frontman David Lee Roth first left the band in 1985.
That Alex chose to ignore the huge success the band had with Hagar as frontman clearly irks the Red Rocker. But even so, he wants to end the tension while the pair are still standing.
Hagar tells Rolling Stone: "It's sad. I haven't read the whole book, but I've seen all the excerpts, and I heard some of the interviews.
"It breaks my heart, because if I think what Alex is going through, losing his brother, never played with anybody else in his life, and then his health.
"When I saw how rickety he is, I realised, 'No wonder he's not answering my call when I say, 'Do you want to go out and play with us?' He can't. That breaks my heart, because I can only put myself in those shoes and say, 'What if I couldn't sing and perform anymore?' The thing that I did my whole life, the thing I devoted my life to, the thing that made me rich and famous and gave me the most beautiful life on the planet, and all of a sudden I can't do that anymore?
I would feel like I was robbing the fans, to start with. When you put yourself in his shoes, I'm saying, 'Okay, I feel sorry for him.'
"It's on my bucket list that I will not take this to my grave, and I don't want Al taking it to his grave. I've put the olive branch out there many times."
Hagar says he is not sure why his spells as Van Halen singer don't feature in Brothers, adding: "Why he left me out, I would like to hear him explain that someday, because I don't get it completely.
"I know that he's bitter about some things, whatever that is… It's like, 'If you don't want that era, that even gives me more justification to say I own it then,' because no one else can do it, and he can't do it even without me. It makes it easier for Mike and I.
"We're sitting there going, 'Okay, I guess we own this,' and we have the obligation to bring this to the fans to keep this music alive, keep it live and alive. This music is too good to throw away."
On the future of his relationship with Alex, Hagar says: "I want to be friends. I don't want to play in a band with Al. 'm not asking for that. I can see that he's not capable of doing that. If he was, I'd be happy to play with him, but it's not what I'm looking for. I just want to be friends again."
