Courtesy of AXS TV

Courtesy of AXS TVThe mid-season finale of AXS TV’s Rock & Roll Road Trip with Sammy Hagar premieres this Sunday, May 31, at 8:30 p.m. ET/5:30 p.m. PT, and features the Red Rocker hanging with Extreme guitarist Nuno Bettencourt and singer Gary Cherone.

Cherone and Sammy Hagar, of course, have something in common — Gary actually replaced Sammy as Van Halen’s frontman.

Hagar tells ABC Audio that a big reason why he wanted Cherone on Rock & Roll Road Trip was to interview him about his experience with Van Halen, which only lasted for about three years.

“I was really interested in Gary giving us some insight to how he got the gig replacing me in Van Halen,” Sammy explains. “And the fact that it didn’t work very well for him or for the band.”

Hagar says Cherone revealed that he was a bit baffled by how he was treated by Eddie and Alex Van Halen.

“[H]e was kind of like, ‘Man, I don’t know what was going on,'” Sammy says with a laugh. “‘All I know is if I said, “I wanted this,” they’d say, “Nope, we’re doing that”‘…[T]hen he’d say, ‘Well, I want to do that.’ They’d say, ‘Nope, we’re doing this.’ And that’s kind of like the same thing that happened to me.”

Hagar also maintains that when he exited Van Halen, Eddie “wasn’t getting along with anybody, not even his brother.” That being said, Sammy says his dream would be to interview the Van Halen brothers for a Rock & Roll Road Trip episode. He adds, however, “Don’t hold your breath.”

Sunday’s episode also features the Extreme members sharing a sneak peek at the band’s upcoming studio album, and jamming with Hagar on an unplugged version of The Who‘s “Won’t Get Fooled Again.”

By Matt Friedlander
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