Former--and rumored future--Van Halen [ tickets ] singer Sammy Hagar [ tickets ] said on Friday (11/21) that he has mended fences with brothers Eddie and Alex Van Halen.

"A couple of months ago I called Alex out of the blue because we had run into a mutual friend and both of us said to tell each other 'hello,'" Hagar wrote in a message posted at his website. "So I said, 'I am going to call him' and we talked. Alex said, 'Hey, next time you are down here call me and we'll have dinner or lunch or something.' So a few weeks ago I was in L.A. I called Al, we had lunch, spent the whole day together. It was great. Reconnecting as friends. That was the end of it."

The visit with Alex apparently led to Hagar and guitarist Eddie Van Halen speaking for the first time since Father's Day of 1996, on which date a heated phone call between the two ended with Hagar and the band parting ways on bad terms.

"A couple weeks [after the visit with Alex,] I talked to Ed on the phone, and a few times since then."

Hagar stopped short of saying that he and his former bandmates were planning to collaborate on a professional basis, but did leave the door open to the possibility, which is sure to fuel speculation that a reunion may happen.

"It's like old times as friends but nothing more than that," he said. "It's great to have open communications with some old friends again, much better than being in a maze. If anything develops more from that when the time is right, I will keep you posted."

Hagar posted the message after unconfirmed reports surfaced last week indicating that he and Van Halen were planning a full-fledged reunion, and that the group had signed a deal with high-powered manager Irving Azoff, who currently represents Hagar as a solo artist. Azoff would not comment on the reports.

The rumored scenario is reminiscent of when Hagar first joined the band in 1985, after original singer David Lee Roth [ tickets ] set out on a solo career. Hagar's then-manager, Ed Lefler, became Van Halen's manager, and guided the group through one of its most successful periods; under Lefler's watch, the band released three chart-topping studio albums, as well as one live set.

After Lefler died of cancer in 1993, the group--over Hagar's objections--enlisted as manager Alex Van Halen's then-brother-in-law, Ray Danniels. During Danniels' tenure, the band released one studio album with Hagar, 1995's "Balance." After a tour in support of that set ended, relations between Hagar and the group--as well as Hagar and Danniels--deteriorated, and ultimately culminated in Hagar's departure from the band.

Danniels subsequently tried to orchestrate a reunion between Roth and Van Halen, but the attempt failed after yielding a pair of new songs featured on a 1996 best-of set. The group ended up filling the frontman vacancy with former Extreme [ tickets ] vocalist Gary Cherone [ tickets ], whom Danniels also was managing at the time. The band released one album with Cherone, 1998's "Van Halen 3." The set was a critical and commercial failure, and Cherone left shortly after work began on a follow-up in 1999.

In the four years since Cherone's departure, the Van Halen camp--which has cut ties with Danniels, and has parted ways with its longtime record label, Warner Bros.--has been virtually silent on what the future holds for the group. Rumors of a reunion with either Roth or Hagar have continued to abound.

Last year, Hagar and Roth--famously at odds with each other over the years--embarked on an unlikely co-headlining tour. By tour's end, the two were publicly professing their reaffirmed mutual disdain.

Hagar, meanwhile, continues to promote his recently released live DVD, "The Long Road to Cabo," which documents his 2002 solo tour. That outing featured frequent guest appearances from Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony.