Sammy Hagar on his most lucrative hit and why he didn't ruin Van Halen

Sammy Hagar has been 1 of stone music’s astir disposable personalities for implicit fractional a period — from his days fronting Montrose successful the aboriginal 1970s done his stint arsenic Van Halen’s vocalist successful the mid-1980s and aboriginal ’90s to his perch successful caller decades atop the Cabo Wabo booze-and-bars empire.

Yet these days, Hagar says, “I look to get on amended with guys successful the state satellite than with astir stone stars.” Kenny Chesney, Ronnie Dunn, the precocious Toby Keith — Hagar counts each arsenic not lone a beloved person but besides a kindred spirit. “Country euphony is astir songs and stories, and it’s astir honesty,” helium says. “That’s what I’m astir too.”

Consider that overlap 1 crushed Hagar, 77, is precocious connected the measure for this weekend’s Stagecoach festival successful Indio, wherever he’ll execute alongside immoderate of Nashville’s biggest stars, including Luke Combs, Jelly Roll, Brothers Osborne and Ashley McBryde. (Consider besides that the festival has immoderate different non-country acts successful Creed, T-Pain and the Backstreet Boys.) From Stagecoach, the California autochthonal volition caput to Las Vegas with his existent roadworthy set — guitarist Joe Satriani, drummer Kenny Aronoff and erstwhile Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony — to motorboat a residency astatine the Park MGM casino.

Ahead of the gigs, Hagar got connected Zoom from his location successful Mill Valley the different day to archer the stories down 5 of his signature hits — and 1 poignant caller opus that looks backmost astatine his narration with Eddie Van Halen, who died successful 2020.

Montrose, “Rock Candy” (1973)

Named aft founding guitarist Ronnie Montrose (who’d played earlier with Van Morrison and Edgar Winter), Hagar’s archetypal palmy set went platinum with its self-titled debut, which featured this funky hard stone jam.

Ted Templeman, who’d signed us, came to rehearsal the time earlier we were going successful the studio. We didn’t person immoderate money, truthful we thought we were conscionable gonna spell successful and play the songs astir live, past get retired connected the road, which was our dream. Ted goes, “If lone we had 1 much opus … You guys got immoderate ideas?” Denny Carmassi plays that drum beat, and Ronnie starts playing the riff. I’m sitting determination listening — that’s the crushed the intro’s truthful long, due to the fact that I was conscionable waiting — and yet I commencement singing, “You’re stone candy, babe — hard, saccharine and sticky.”

I conscionable made it up connected the spot. The magic came close from my bosom and soul. Sounds truthful anserine — like, my bosom and psyche is astir those small sticks with a clump of sweetener connected it? But those were my favourite erstwhile I was a kid. If I got 1 of those suckers successful my Christmas stocking oregon trick-or-treating, I was like, “All right!”

“Pull up your pants / Stretch retired — instrumentality a chance.”

You cognize what I was reasoning astir with those lines? It wasn’t intentionally sexual.

There’s nary mode that’s true.

I’m telling you: I was talking astir however you person to propulsion up your pants to instrumentality a agelong measurement — astir similar rolling up your sleeves to get thing done.

You’ve got to beryllium the lone feline successful stone ‘n’ rotation past who wrote a opus wherever you’re talking astir hardness and stickiness and it’s not astir sex.

It is present [laughs]. The Def Leppard guys, they emotion that opus — they usage the “hot sticky sweet” happening successful “Pour Some Sugar connected Me.” They notified maine immediately: “We’re ripping you off, mother—.”

“Rock Candy” is simply a precise dilatory opus by Montrose’s standards.

We ne'er adjacent utilized to play it unrecorded due to the fact that it was truthful slow. Now I’ve played it successful astir apt 90% of the sets I’ve done since then. I ever play it due to the fact that that drum happening is truthful iconic. Denny was a large John Bonham freak, and that’s conscionable axenic Bonham close there. But a batch of guys can’t play that sparse and clasp a groove backmost that agelong similar Denny did.

Templeman oregon anybody effort to get you to velocity it up?

No, Ted got america to propulsion it backmost — helium wanted that Zeppelin “When the Levee Breaks” benignant of thing. We recorded it astatine Sunset Sound successful a country that utilized to beryllium a nutrient locker — each cement and steel. Ted said, “Let’s chopped the drums successful there,” but Denny couldn’t deed the cymbals. He had to conscionable play footwear and snare and toms due to the fact that if you deed the cymbals they’d reverberate for 20 minutes.

Sammy Hagar, “I Can’t Drive 55” (1984)

After leaving Montrose successful 1975, Hagar launched a solo vocation that yet yielded this staple of MTV’s aboriginal years, successful which the longtime car enthusiast rails against a nationally mandated velocity limit.

It’s a morganatic protestation opus — I was pissed. The communicative is that astatine the extremity of the “Three Lock Box” tour, I took my household connected a fantastic abrogation to Egypt, Africa, Sardinia, each these gorgeous places. Spent much wealth than I’d ever planned connected spending successful my life. Coming back, we went from Kenya to London, which is simply a agelong flight, past we got connected the Concorde.

Ooh la la.

This was 1983, babe — I was truly splurging. So we alert to New York, get disconnected that plane, instrumentality different puddle-jumper to Albany to instrumentality my lad Aaron backmost to boarding schoolhouse successful Lake Placid, which is different two- oregon three-hour drive. I’ve been traveling for 24 hours, it’s 2 o’clock successful the morning, I’ve got a young lad asking, “Are we determination yet?” — I was cooked. Got pulled implicit going 62 miles an hour, not a psyche connected the highway. And the bull wasn’t cool: “You cognize however accelerated you were going?” I said, “Yeah, I was going 62 miles an hour.” He said, “We springiness tickets for 62 miles an hr astir here.” I had nary thought they changed the velocity limit. I look astatine my woman and I go, “I can’t thrust 55.” Then I went, “Holy s—.”

You heard the words permission your mouth.

Subconscious things conscionable coming retired of maine — it’s a weird acquisition I have. Back successful those days, I ever had a small cassette recorder with me, and I started singing the opus into it. I’m telling my woman to constitute the lyrics down portion the guy’s penning maine a ticket. By the clip he’s done, I’m telling him, “Thank you!” The opus truly changed my vocation — changed my life. Financially, it’s earned maine much wealth than immoderate opus I’ve ever written oregon been progressive with, including Van Halen.

Why bash you deliberation it resonated successful specified a large way?

All the truckers, cab drivers, limo drivers, autobus drivers — anybody that drove for a living, which a batch of radical connected this satellite bash — it was their song. It made each compilation that had thing to bash with NASCAR oregon immoderate benignant of resistance race. But besides it was real — I truly mean what I’m singing.

The punk set Minutemen titled 1984’s “Double Nickels connected the Dime” successful effect to “I Can’t Drive 55.”

Were they dogging me?

Good-naturedly dogging you, I’d say.

How could you canine Sammy Hagar with immoderate benignant of animosity? It’s impossible. What’s the set that did “Sammy Hagar Weekend”?

Thelonious Monster.

I deliberation they did it successful jest too. If they didn’t, they cognize amended now.

Van Halen, “Why Can’t This Be Love” (1986)

David Lee Roth discontinue Van Halen successful 1985, leaving a spot for Hagar, who came recommended, arsenic the communicative goes, by his and Eddie’s shared mechanic. (The set was rounded retired by Eddie’s member Alex connected drums.) Van Halen’s archetypal LP with its caller singer, “5150,” became the band’s archetypal to apical Billboard’s medium chart, though immoderate aged fans balked astatine the record’s synth-heavy sound.

Everyone talks astir maine ruining Van Halen — the Roth fans oregon the radical that conscionable volition not fto spell of that epoch — but I had thing to bash with nothing. I wrote the songs with Eddie, but they were his philharmonic ideas to statesman with. He’d reinvented the guitar cervix and was benignant of burnt retired connected it — couldn’t bash overmuch much with the thing. He truly wanted to play a batch of keyboards, but helium was utilized to getting s— from Roth and Al astir it.

I retrieve helium started playing “Love Walks In,” and I’m going, “This is simply a beauteous portion of music. Why the f— person you not utilized this?” He said, “Man, I’ve been sitting connected this for similar 3 years.” Dave conscionable didn’t sing similar that — helium astir apt couldn’t bring thing similar that home. Eddie had each these different keyboard songs: “Why Can’t This Be Love,” “Feels So Good,” “When It’s Love.” We stretched them retired due to the fact that I’m like, “Man, we can’t enactment each these connected 1 grounds — we’ll suffer our audience.”

With that successful mind, you had to person recognized that “Why Can’t This Be Love” was a risky prime for the archetypal Van Hagar single.

Part of it was intentional, to instrumentality the set successful a caller direction. We didn’t privation the archetypal happening radical heard to beryllium the opening way connected that album, with the “Hellooooo, baby” — that could person been David Lee Roth doing that. We wanted to reinvent ourselves.

What’d the grounds statement say?

Mo Ostin, the president of Warner Bros. Records, came successful and we played him the song. He got the biggest grin connected his face, sticks his digit successful the aerial and goes, “I odor money.” That’s wherefore it was the archetypal happening to travel out. The brainsick happening is, our manager Ed Leffler wouldn’t fto america marque a video for the opus due to the fact that of the aforesaid happening — due to the fact that Roth was specified a video-oriented guy. We said, “You privation to spot this band, you’re gonna person to bargain a ticket.”

“Why Can’t This Be Love” peaked astatine No. 3 connected the Hot 100. Do you retrieve what was astatine No. 1 that week?

What was it?

Whitney Houston, “Greatest Love of All.”

How could you kick astir that? My God, she was 1 of the top singers who ever walked this earth. I was gonna conjecture idiosyncratic similar Hall & Oates oregon thing much pop. You know, Van Halen wasn’t a popular band, really, but truly we were. And that was earlier maine — I mean, “Jump” was a popular monster. Eddie could constitute bully popular music, and with a dependable similar mine, I tin sing anything. It was beauteous casual to person a popular deed successful that band. We didn’t effort astatine all.

Van Halen, “Right Now” (1991)

One of 5 Top 10 stone singles from Van Halen’s “For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge” — cheque the acronym — “Right Now” acceptable an aspirational lyric astir seizing the time against different of Eddie’s keyboard arrangements.

I’d been speechmaking a small Zen worldly astir the present and present — astir however important it is to beryllium successful that space, which is intolerable unless you’re going to meditate successful a f— cave somewhere. Then 1 greeting I’m laying connected the formation successful Malibu earlier going to the studio. Eddie yells down, “Yo, mother—, it’s clip to go.” I said, “Man, I conscionable privation to enactment close here, close now.” I heard myself accidental it, conscionable similar “I Can’t Drive 55.” I’m like: Hmm, interesting. Then I started penning it.

You accidental successful your 2011 memoir that it took you months to get anyone successful the set to cheque retired what you wrote.

Before me, Eddie and Alex didn’t springiness a s— astir lyrics. They didn’t cognize what the lyrics were. Eddie told maine that him and Al, they didn’t adjacent person Dave successful their monitors — they conscionable listened to the 2 of them. So erstwhile I’d spell successful determination with this lyrical content, Ed wasn’t saying, “Oh, I don’t similar that” — he’d conscionable brushwood it off. But [Eddie’s ex-wife] Valerie [Bertinelli] was funny successful my lyrics, and that got Eddie’s attention.

“For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge” came retired conscionable arsenic grunge was astir to explode. I wondered however cognizant you were that stone euphony was changing astir Van Halen.

It made maine nervous. We took Alice successful Chains retired with america connected that circuit due to the fact that — well, archetypal of all, I thought “Man successful the Box” was 1 of the coolest stone songs ever. But I besides wanted to clasp grunge. I’m going, “Hey, let’s instrumentality these guys retired and present ourselves to their assemblage and past present them to our audience.” They got booed disconnected the signifier astir each night. Layne [Staley] would instrumentality disconnected his overgarment and squat down astatine the beforehand of the signifier and spell [holds up mediate fingers] portion helium was singing.

But the constituent is that I thought “Right Now” was a large mode to turn up. Singing “Hot for Teacher” now, astatine 77 years aged — I’m sorry, it’s embarrassing. I wanted to sing lyrics that I could sing for the remainder of my life. I person plentifulness of those different kinds of songs. “Rock Candy,” it’s borderline, but astatine slightest I’m not making it astir immoderate 14-year-old. It could beryllium astir my beauteous 58-year-old wife.

The “Right Now” video is simply a classical of the era: a clump of random clips overlaid with slogans astir lipid companies and unprotected sex.

I’m like, “I conscionable wrote the champion lyrics I’ve ever written, and you privation to screen them up with immoderate different s—? F— you!” But Warner Bros. was adamant astir it — here’s aged Mo Ostin again.

It won video of the twelvemonth astatine the MTV Video Music Awards.

And I had that shoved up my ass for astir 2 years each clip I tried to reason astir something: “Yeah, yea — conscionable similar you didn’t privation to bash the ‘Right Now’ video.”

“For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge” besides won a Grammy — Van Halen’s lone 1 — for champion hard stone performance. You bushed Guns N’ Roses’ “Use Your Illusion I.”

Wow. To maine that was their champion record.

Did winning a Grammy mean thing to you?

Every grant oregon validation is truthful important to maine — I’m arrogant of those babies. But that Grammy was big. I’d been up for the “Footloose” soundtrack [in 1985]. I retrieve lasting determination with Kenny Loggins implicit connected the broadside of the stage, and f— Prince walks retired and gets it for “Purple Rain.”

Sammy Hagar and the Waboritas, “Mas Tequila” (1999)

Van Halen fired Hagar successful 1996, aft which the vocalist returned to making euphony nether his ain sanction and focused connected his bars — including a flagship cantina successful Cabo San Lucas, Mexico — and a tequila marque he’d aboriginal merchantability for $80 million.

When I’m astir the house, unless I person to leave, I bash not enactment connected agelong pants. I brought the shorts and the T-shirts into Van Halen. They were each glittered up earlier that, past I locomotion successful with my flip-flops and vessel tops. A batch of radical didn’t similar it, but excessively bad. I went manner with the euphony — with the Wabos — aft [1997’s] “Marching to Mars.” I moved to Cabo, lived successful a bathing suit, walked onstage with nary garment backmost successful those days.

What happened with “Mas Tequila” is that there’s a feline named Narada Michael Walden — large songwriter and producer, worked with Whitney and a clump of different radical — helium said, “Let’s marque a record.” He told maine the inclination was that radical were sampling their favourite songs and penning a caller opus astir it. I knew that was happening, but I didn’t deliberation I was gonna bash it — that was rappers and stuff. But I said, “My favourite grounds is ‘Rock and Roll Part 2,’ the Gary Glitter song.” He goes, “Write a opus astir it.” It wrote itself.

The groove is conscionable truthful infectious. Gary Glitter got a co-writing recognition connected it. That wasn’t my thought — I thought I changed everything conscionable enough. But the grounds institution said, “No, nary — we’re not gonna merchandise it unless you marque a woody with him.” I’m definite he’s precise blessed astir it. The Black Keys stole that groove excessively [for 2010’s “Howlin’ for You”]. I don’t deliberation they paid for it. They should beryllium paying me.

Sammy Hagar, “Encore, Thank You, Goodnight” (2025)

Hagar rejoined Van Halen for a circuit successful 2004 that the vocalist says was marred by Eddie’s drinking. (Roth stepped backmost successful arsenic frontman 3 years later.) Eddie died of crab astatine property 65 amid tentative plans to execute with Hagar erstwhile again. Hagar’s latest single, which helium co-wrote with Satriani, is owed for merchandise Friday.

It’s a thank-you to Eddie Van Halen — it’s saying, “Since you’ve been gone, it’s not the same,” due to the fact that it isn’t. For the music, I thought: How tin I marque this an homage to Eddie? I had a dream, and I remembered immoderate of the euphony from the dream. But I can’t play guitar that way. So I sent Joe these videos of maine singing this small chorus and told him however the riff goes. And Joe, man, helium conscionable channeled Eddie. We’d conscionable travel disconnected a large circuit wherever he’d been playing 14 Van Halen songs each night, truthful helium knew Eddie’s s— wrong and out.

It was successful his fingers.

It was successful his soul. He’s playing his ain s—, but it’s precise Eddie-esque. I miss the feline truthful much. Thank God we connected towards the end, different I’d beryllium heartbroken. I americium anyway. But it was truthful important to maine that we did link successful that past year. Eddie said to me, “Don’t archer anyone astir america talking due to the fact that I don’t privation to beryllium answering questions astir rumors of a reunion.” But helium said, “Next year, we’re gonna get unneurotic — we’re gonna marque immoderate noise. Let maine bushed this s—, and let’s bash it.” He goes, “Please don’t speech to anyone — not adjacent Al.” I’ve ne'er said that to anyone, and I stake you Al is gonna person a f— fit. But Eddie said, “Don’t adjacent speech to Al astir this.” I said, “Ed, I don’t speech to Al.”

When you accidental it hasn’t been the aforesaid since Eddie died, is that due to the fact that there’s nary accidental present that you guys volition play unneurotic again?

Things aren’t the aforesaid without that hope. After the 2004 tour, with Eddie being successful the information helium was in, I was precise aggravated with him. But successful my bosom I was hoping helium would heal and would go the Eddie that I loved and knew from erstwhile I was successful the set — from the bully times. I was hoping that would hap and that we’d get unneurotic and play someday. And not lone for the fame and fortune, which of people I’ve ne'er gotten backmost to that level since. That was the pinnacle of my career.

But much than that was the creativity and the vigor we had unneurotic penning songs similar “Right Now” and “When It’s Love” and “Love Walks In” and “Top of the World.” He brought thing retired of maine that conscionable ain’t the aforesaid without him. At my age, you beryllium determination and wonder: If Eddie was alive, could I scope that again? Now that imagination is gone.