David Lee Roth jokes he was visited by the ghost of Eddie Van Halen

Back in April, former Van Halen frontman Sammy Hagar released the song “Encore, Thank You, Good Night,” revealing that the tune was inspired by a dream he had about his late bandmate Eddie Van Halen. Well, now Van Halen’s other lead singer, David Lee Roth, has weighed in on it.

Fan shot footage posted to YouTube shows that during a concert in Hampton Beach, New Hampshire, earlier this month, Roth seemed to mock Hagar’s dream, revealing that he too got a visit from Eddie’s ghost.

Calling Hagar “one of my esteemed colleagues” with a “great voice,” Roth joked, “I don’t know what the odds are, but last night the ghost of Eddie Van Halen visited me at the f****** hotel room. I was watching the weather report and he came in and he was laughing. His f****** ghost was laughing.”

“I said, ‘What did you do now?’ He said, ‘Dave, Dave … Dave, you know that song I gave Hagar?’ I said ‘What now?’ He said, ‘It’s actually [Iron Butterfly’s hit] ‘In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida’ backwards. Don’t f****** tell him,'” Roth continued, tongue in cheek.

Roth said after laughing and sharing a cigarette together, he let Eddie know how he felt about him.

“I hugged my brother Ed, and I said, ‘Man, do I f****** miss you.’ And he said, ‘I miss you too, Dave,'” Roth shared. “He said, ‘But you know what? You should still go to hell.’ And I said, ‘Save me a seat.'”

Roth is set to bring his tour to Gary, Indiana, on Tuesday. A complete list of dates can be found at DavidLeeRoth.com.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.