Sammy Hagar and the late Eddie Van Halenreconnected before the iconic guitarist’s death. The 72-year-old former Van Halen lead singer shared, in a message to Howard Stern on Wednesday, that he and Van Halen had started communicating earlier this year.

Hagar didn’t want to appear on Stern’s SiriusXM radio show this week, instead sending a letter to be read when asked to comment on Van Halen’s death. Van Halen died on Tuesday after a long battle with cancer.

“I would love you to share that Eddie and I had been texting, and it’s been a love fest since we started communicating earlier this year,” Hagar said in the letter. “We both agreed not to tell anyone because of all the rumors it would stir up about a reunion, et cetera, and we both knew that wasn’t going to happen. But he also didn’t want anyone to know about his health.”

“He stopped responding to me a month ago, and I figured it wasn’t good,” Hagar’s note continued. “I reached out one more time last week and when he didn’t respond, I figured it was a matter of time, but it came way too soon.”https://www.youtube.com/embed/-IvKQIQ9Fyk?feature=oembed

Hagar replaced Van Halen lead singer David Lee Roth in 1985, and performed with the band until his 1996 departure. He reunited with the band in 2004 for the Best of Both Worlds tour.

On Thursday, Hager and Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony also posted a video on Instagram paying tribute to their late friend. The video was recorded on Wednesday after they rehearsed for the virtual concert, Sammy’s Birthday Bash.

“After the unfortunate thing that happened with Eddie Van Halen yesterday, which was, for Mike and I, just was like getting hit by a freaking Mack Truck, kinda took the wind out of the sails,” Hager says in the clip. “I’m kind of devastated…A Van Halen song never felt so hard to play and sing in my life.