The reunion rumors have been persistent when it comes to Sammy Hagar and the Van Halen brothers, but in a new interview with Rolling Stone, Hagar reveals it was not his intent to have he and Michael Anthony return to the band by wishing Eddie Van Halen a happy birthday.

Hagar says he's had no offline communication with Eddie since the 2004 reunion tour wrapped and that his gesture was a result of his wanting to get his relationships past and present in a positive place. "I realized that I didn't want to take any enemies to my grave," he says. "If I K.O. tomorrow, I don't want to have an enemy. I don't know how the afterlife works, but I'd just as soon not go there with any enemies."

Hagar says the deaths of David Bowie and Glenn Frey in quick succession led to this desire to reconcile and with Eddie Van Halen's birthday coming soon after, he decided to reach out to wish him well.

"I've never seen so many guys from my era K.O. like that," he says. "Bowie was my hero. It was one after the other, even a young guy like Scott Weiland. He inducted me in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. You just go, 'Aw, man!'" Hagar's "life's too short" revelation led to the tweet and he admits it was "trippy" when Eddie responded back.

As for where it goes from here, Hagar says he will not be the first to reach out to speak beyond this as he fears that it would be misinterpreted by the brothers. "I know the way those guys think. 'Oh, he wants something! He wants back in the band. He must be broke,'" says Hagar. "I'm sorry, but unless they've changed drastically, which when I've talked to people that do know them it sounds like they haven't changed at all, it would be misinterpreted. I also don't want to provoke that. That's not what I'm looking for in my life now."

But if Eddie and Alex did reach out, Hagar says he'd be up to meeting with them. "If I did it myself I'd be way too vulnerable. I'd be in a room with the guys like, 'No, no. You don't understand. That's not what I'm talking about. I just want to be friends. And once we're friends, we can do anything. Until that is proven, I can't be in a band with you guys, or whatever,'" said Hagar, who insists that any talk of a Van Halen reunion would have to include Michael Anthony.

As for the reunion rumors, he added, "The [Van Halen] rumors are going to be out there, but what else could the rumors be? If Dave [Lee Roth] did leave again, do the math. The last time there was about three people they could have called. In this case, there is only one. But I'm not waiting by the phone."

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