February 6, 1997 - Sammy Hagar has finally signed a new record deal. His forthcoming album, Marching To Mars, will be released through Tracks Records, a subsidiary of MCA. The tentative release date is May 20, 1997.

Reports indicate that Sammy may initially release two singles on April 29 to promote the album to different radio formats. Theres no word yet whether any videos will be made for the singles.

You can expect to see a lot of the Red Rocker over the next few months as he fires up the publicity machine to promote his first post-Van Halen solo effort.

February 11, 1997 - Will the new Van Halen album be titled Mach III? I haven't had official confirmation yet, but that's the buzz around radio stations in the USA at the moment. This week's Friday Morning Quarterback, a magazine for the American radio industry, reports that the new album is nearing completion and will be titled Mach III.

February 14, 1997 - Edward Van Halen's wife, actress Valerie Bertinelli will be one of the guests on todays Oprah Winfrey show. Edward was present at the taping this week, and will be part of the show.

Check your local guides for screening times. For Oprah watchers outside of the USA, check your tv guide for the episode titled Girlfriends.

February 14, 1997 - Unfortunately there is no good news to report. The forthcoming Van Halen album has been pushed back to a fall release. No specific reason has been given. I've also heard that the title has not even been considered, so the speculation about it being titled Mach III is also unfounded at this stage.

February 15, 1997 - Below are some screen shots from Valerie and Edward's appearance on the Oprah Winfrey show today. Special thanks once again to Tom Welch for coming through with the screen shots! Click on any of the thumbnail images below for the full-size picture.

February 21, 1997 - The April 1997 edition of Guitar World has hit the streets. This month the magazine features an exclusive interview with former Van Halen lead singer Sammy Hagar.

The Red Rocker tells his side of the breakup story (again) and explains why he did the Unboxed album. As the interview was done last December, Hagar didn't mention his forthcoming solo album, Marching To Mars, which is due for release on May 20.

Sammy Hagar Interview - Guitar World April 1997

February 23, 1997 - Issue #7 of The Inside Magazine - The International Van Halen Magazine is now available. The new issue features EXCLUSIVE interviews with three members of the Mighty Van Halen: Edward Van Halen (conducted at his 5150 studio), Alex Van Halen, and Michael Anthony.

Click on the link below for an excerpt of the Michael Anthony interview, plus more information on the INSIDE.

The INSIDE - Issue #7

February 25, 1997 - Today while reading the My Yahoo news page, I found a report from the Reuters/Variety newswire regarding Sammy Hagar's new record deal. The article reports that Hagar has signed a seven-figure contract with Bubble Factory Records. It should have read Track Factory Records. Click on the link below for the original article via Yahoo.

Sammy Hagar Lands At Bubble Factory

February 28, 1997 - David Lee Roth made a rare public appearance on MTV yesterday at Howard Stern's Private Parts release party at Madison Square Garden. Other celebrities in attendance included Tom Arnold, Jon Bon Jovi, Marilyn Manson and LL Cool J.

When Howard Stern commented that Van Halen were nothing without Roth, the crowd started a chant of "Eddie sucks". Dave quickly came back with the line:

Hat's off to ya, Dave! You had the opportunity to slam Van Halen, but instead chose to be a man and not give the tabloids more ammunition. You won a lot of fans tonight.