Who Was The Better Van Halen Lead Singer, David Lee Roth Or Sammy Hagar?

Van Halen was abound with musical prodigies, and the band is often credited for making hard rock more mass-friendly. The band found some controversy recently when Wolfgang Van Halen turned down an offer to play his father Eddie Van Halen’s famous guitar solo ‘Eruption’ at the Grammys and also expressed disappointment at the In Memoriam tribute since he found it to be too brief.

But, the band is no stranger to controversy; one of the stormiest dramas in rock history unraveled when lead vocalist David Lee Roth left the band and Sammy Hagar was hired in his place in the seventies. Fans have debated for years to decide who’s the better rockstar between the two, and here are some pointers:

10 David Lee Roth Was Better: The OG Member

It has to be acknowledged that Roth understood and experienced the band’s genesis and was privy to the kind of music the Van Halen brothers were looking to make. The Van Halens had only hired Roth to save some cash, as they would rent his sound-system, but then he became a fixture in the band.

In fact, Roth has even revealed that renaming their band Mammoth to Van Halen in the mid-seventies was his idea since he envisioned marketing the name as Santana did, so it’s evident that his vocals, creative vision, and song-writing basically cemented Van Halen’s reputation as a force to be reckoned with.

9 Sammy Hagar Was Better: Was More Melodic

This is something even the most staunch Roth loyalists agree with; while Roth was a ball of unpredictable fiery energy on stage, he was in many ways a one-man act who sang for himself and his fans. Hagar’s stint as the vocalist made the fans of the band realize how a band is supposed to sound in terms of an ensemble set—he essentially made the band sound like a team effort.

This happened mainly because of his dexterity as a singer; his rhythm-first approach as crucial since it required his band members to be more involved in his sound. The fact that he prioritized melody over volume or antics, was essentially what warmed fans up to him.

8 David Lee Roth Was Better: His Work With The Debut Album

Van Halen’s self-titled debut album that was released in the late seventies was of paramount significance in the band’s trajectory. Not a lot of people could have achieved what Eddie Van Halen and Lee Roth were able to establish in terms of partnership. Roth’s edgy, unorthodox techniques were noted by critics, and he even gained a lot of relevance in the later decades since this album contains some of the band’s biggest hits like ‘Running With the Devil’ and ‘Eruption.’

It’s unlikely that Hagar, who’s incredibly talented but a bit old school, would have been able to achieve what Roth had the courage to pull of in terms of sound design

7 Sammy Hagar Was Better: A More Spontaneous Performer

Though Roth was famed for his infectious energy and showmanship, it was Hagar who was the more meticulous, creative, and spontaneous, and, in some ways, more talented than him. Hagar was a multi-tasker and could deliver on many platforms. In fact, the story of how he got hired also indicates that. During Hagar’s tryouts, Eddie Van Halen reportedly began playing a new song he’d been working on, and Hagar improvised the lyrics for it then and there. The song was ‘Summer Nights,’ one of the band’s most well-written songs which still retained 90% of Hagar’s improvised lyrics.

6 David Lee Roth Was Better: Had A More Astute Vision About The Band

Roth was also a marketing maven, at least in terms of ideas. He knew exactly what their strengths were, and one of the main reasons he left the band was the artistic argument between Roth and Eddie on where they wanted to take the band. Roth realized Van Halen would fare better if they followed the quintessential hedonist, jazzy aesthetic pursuit of bands like AC/DC or Kiss

Eddie wanted a very different, more meaningful approach to their music with moodier, darker lyrics and lower keys. However, some of Van Halen’s best tracks are the high-octane power anthems of the sort which Roth wanted

5 Sammy Hagar Was Better: His Methods Were Designed To Complement The Band’s Sound

With new lead vocalists, many bands start sounding completely different, but Hagar was very diligent about not upsetting Van Halen’s key traits. He was creative, precise, and yet his vocals did justice to Van Halen’s discography.

Hagar was really forward-thinking as an artist, so he was able to introduce a lot of upbeat, unconventional, semi-acoustic elements; tracks like ‘Best of Both Worlds’ or ‘Poundcake’ raised the bar on how American rock can sound like

4 David Lee Roth Was Better: He Was The Better Showman

Roth quickly garnered a reputation for his on-stage antics and overall showmanship; for many fans, David, and not Eddie, was the face of the band due to his on-stage persona and the way he dominated a score. Hagar was nowhere as good a performer as David; he was careful and original, but he had a very different presence than Roth, so a comparison isn’t entirely fair since they two played with the band during different phases. 

3 Sammy Hagar Was Better: He Was Multi-Faceted

Hagar found success as a solo artist before he joined Van Halen; Hagar was a part of the rock band Montrose and also enjoyed a solo career after he left the band. Before he came on board with Van Halen, he had already worked on a diverse discography in metal and hard rock. His experience in various sub-genres helped him enormously to upgrade Van Halen’s sound for the eighties audiences

2 David Lee Roth Was Better: He Was Cult

It’s important to remember it was Roth’s influence that made way for the next generation of rock stars like Vince Neil from Motley Crue or early Bon Jovi. Roth’s mix of punk-inspired energy, dynamic vocals, and incredible looks made him an instant success in the seventies. He became one of the most successful lead singers, so much so that many fans believed that, when he left the band, Roth was a bigger name than Van Halen since he had a loyal fan base.

1 Sammy Hagar Was Better: He Was A Timely Addition

This is a fact most Van Halen’s fans agree with: the band found Sammy Hagar exactly when it needed to. In terms of overall sound, Van Halen was aiming for a more polished and groovy packaging and a mature discography, and Hagar was able to deliver on this front. Since the band’s fan base also matured over time and their tastes evolved significantly in a decade, Hagar’s addition was a really good move which helped the band found a strong footing with its older audiences in the eighties.

About The Author