How Eddie Van Halen Asked Daryl Hall To Join Van Halen

While David Lee Roth's departure from Van Halen in 1985 might not have been a surprise, that doesn't mean the band knew quite how it was going to continue with a new frontman.

Van Halen was already a transcendent act by the mid-'80s and Eddie Van Halen might have reasonably figured that he could have any singer he wanted.

Daryl Hall was asked in a new interview with Q104.3 New York's Out of the Box with Jonathan Clarke to confirm whether Eddie truly did approach him with the opportunity.

"Well, yeah (laughs). Actually, yes," Daryl said. "I knew [Van Halen] really well. We actually shared some crew and things like that. Eddie came to a show with Valerie [Bertinelli] — this goes back, you know — and David had just left the band.

"Eddie said, 'Do you want to join Van Halen, man?' He was half-joking, but I think he was serious. I really do believe he was serious. I took it seriously. I went, 'Meh, I think not. I think I've got my own s--t going on.'"

Eddie had a great deal of respect for Hall & Oates, even crediting their song "Kiss Is on My List" with inspiring the iconic keyboard hook in Van Halen's "Jump."

Watch the full conversation via the player above!

Daryl Hall was far from the only famous singer Eddie approached about joining Van Halen before he zeroed in on Sammy Hagar.

Van Halen toured with Journey in the late-'70s, and Steve Perry made enough of an impression that Eddie also called him when Van Halen needed vocals.

Perry told Rolling Stone in 2020 conversation that he was "honored" when Eddie asked him to come to L.A. and jam — he was more receptive to the idea than Daryl Hall was — but ultimately Perry was too intimidated at the idea of replacing Roth.


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