Sammy Hagar recently opened up about his reluctance to perform a specific Van Halen song during live shows. He shared his thoughts in a post on Instagram.
The former Van Halen frontman explained his emotional connection to the track and why it doesn’t fit his current live performances.
“I love this song [Van Halen’s ‘Don’t Tell Me (What Love Can Do)’] so much that I’m afraid to play it live!” Hagar said. “It’s just so dark, and so emotional.”
He elaborated on how the song’s tone conflicts with his current artistic direction.
“As much as I love it for what it was, it doesn’t belong in my life today,” he continued. “And if I sang it in a show, I’m afraid it might darken the whole evening which is not what I’m about today.”
Hagar also acknowledged the song’s significance to fans and the technical challenges it presents.
“If I choose to do this song, it will be occasionally and it would have to find a special placement in the show,” he said. “I honestly didn’t know this song was so special to so many people. I also got my brother Mikey to help me out on these vocals if needed this song is a motherf*cker to sing.”
The emotional weight Hagar describes stems from the song’s deeply personal origins and the creative tensions that shaped its final form during the band’s turbulent period.
Ultimate Guitar reported that Hagar originally wrote “Don’t Tell Me (What Love Can Do)” about Kurt Cobain’s death. He intended it as a hopeful message about love’s power to heal. However, the song’s direction changed dramatically during production when Eddie and Alex Van Halen, along with producer Bruce Fairbairn, pushed for a darker, more negative approach.
“I wanted the chorus to say ‘I wanna show you what love can do’, but Bruce Fairbairn, Ed and Al wanted to make it more dark and negative,” Hagar recalled in previous interviews about the creative clash that transformed his original vision.
The recording sessions for the “Balance” album, which featured this track, were marked by significant internal strife within the band. Ultimate Classic Rock documented that producer Bruce Fairbairn frequently had to remove Eddie Van Halen from the studio due to substance abuse issues that were affecting the recording process.
These behind-the-scenes struggles help explain why the song carries such emotional complexity for Hagar. The track represents both his original artistic intent and the painful compromises that defined Van Halen’s later years. The song ultimately became one of the band’s most introspective pieces, reflecting the personal and professional tensions that would eventually contribute to Hagar’s departure from the group.
