About Me
Samuel Roy Hagar (born October 13, 1947 in Monterey, California, USA), better known as Sammy Hagar, (aka "The Red Rocker") is a U.S. rock guitarist, singer, composer and former member of "Van Halen", and of the early 70s rock band "Montrose". He is of Lebanese descent.
Pre-"Montrose" years:
After a brief career as a boxer in the footsteps of his father, Sammy became interested in the burgeoning Southern California music scene, fronting his first band, "The Fabulous Catillas". Reportedly, he was also in some other pre-"Montrose" bands including "Skinny", "Sammy Hagar Band", "Justice Brothers", "Dustcloud", "Cotton", "Jimmy", and "Manhole". "Justice Brothers" also featured drummer David Lauser (from The Wabos).
"Montrose" years (1973 - 1975):
Hagar's first major success, however, came from his work with the group "Montrose" on their debut and sophomore albums, including the Hagar-penned songs "Rock Candy" and "Bad Motor Scooter". After difficulties with the band's founder, Ronnie Montrose, during a European tour, Sammy departed from the group with bassist Bill Church and drummer Denny Carmassi in tow.
Solo (1976 - 1984):
Hagar commenced a solo recording and touring career to increasing success. After moderate success on Capitol Records, with such albums as "Nine on a Ten Scale" and hits such as "Red", Hagar made some personnel changes, including enlisting long time friend and former "Justice Brothers" bandmate David Lauser as his drummer. With these changes, and a change to Geffen Records, Hagar enjoyed hits such as "Heavy Metal", "Three Lock Box", and perhaps his best-known song "I Can't Drive 55". During this time, his frequent appearance in his red attire in videos and in concert would lead up to his given trademark nickname of "The Red Rocker".
"H.S.A.S." (1984):
In 1983-84 Sammy Hagar and "Journey's" Neal Schon formed the supergroup "HSAS" (Hagar Schon Aaronson Shrieve) along with former "Foghat" bassist Kenny Aaronson and former "Santana" drummer Michael Shrieve. "HSAS" did a small Christmas tour to benefit local charities and which released one album, "Through the Fire". As intended from its start, "HSAS" was a short-lived project. One song in particular, a cover of "Whiter Shade of Pale" received some airplay peaking at #94 on the Billboard Singles chart.
"Van Halen" years (1985 - 1996):
After parting ways with popular vocalist David Lee Roth, the remaining members of the band "Van Halen" contacted many people looking for a vocalist. Thanks to Eddie's appreciation of "Montrose" and his car mechanic's suggestion, they auditioned and quickly hired Hagar to fill the opening. With Hagar at the front, "Van Halen" produced four multi-platinum albums: "5150", "OU812", "For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge", and "Balance". Yet, trouble in paradise eventually ensued, culminating in 1996. Hagar disagreed with the decision to record two new tracks on the Twister soundtrack, after the band had agreed to take time off after their 1995 world tour, and he maintained his dislike of a greatest hits record at that point in the band's career. These two items were pushed by Van Halen's new management, Alex Van Halen's brother in law, brought in after the death of their longtime manager Ed Leffler. Hagar wanted to do a new studio album instead, but only after Eddie, Alex, and Hagar's pregnant wife all got their medical issues dealt with. Stories have that Sammy was in Hawaii with his wife when Eddie wanted him back in the studio. When Sammy no-showed he claims he was fired. Eddie claims Sammy quit. The end came when Eddie started to work with former lead singer David Lee Roth instead of Hagar, and the band then split up.
Solo again (1996 - 2002):
Determined to rise from the VH ashes, Hagar went on to produce several new solo records after parting ways with Van Halen in 1996. Like the Platinum selling "Marching To Mars". Hagar then pulled together his new solo band, called "The Waboritas", consisting again of David Lauser on drums, as well as former keyboardist Jesse Harms, and new to the mix was former "Busboys" guitarist Vic Johnson, and former "Tommy Tutone" bassist Mona. And went on to record "Red Voodoo", "Ten 13" and "Not For Sale".
"Planet Us" (2002 - 2003):
In 2002, with Van Halen still unreformed at this point, Hagar joined again with "Journey" guitarist Neal Schon to form a new side project called "Planet Us". Along with "Van Halen" member Michael Anthony on bass and Deen Castronovo (also of "Journey") on drums. Despite big intentions, the band only recorded two songs and played live a few times before dissolving when Hagar and Anthony rejoined Van Halen for a minor stint.
"Van Halen" reforms (2003 - 2005):
After the successful "Heavyweights of Rock" tour (2002), where he co-headlined with David Lee Roth. Hagar started thinking about his former "Van Halen" bandmates, calling Alex in late 2003 from a tip by a mutual friend. In early 2004, "Van Halen" with Sammy Hagar was announced to the general public, culminating with a highly anticipated summer tour and a 2-CD Best Of album, entitled "Best of Both Worlds" featuring three new "Van Halen" tracks fronted by Hagar. The subsequent tour brought on more problems, most notably Eddie Van Halen's alleged fall back to alcohol resulting in a somewhat infamous final show in Tucson, Arizona. As the show ended, Eddie smashed his guitar on stage sending shrapnel into the audience. This caused tensions to flare up backstage after the show and eventually sidelined possibilities for a future new album. Sammy again, left Van Halen with Michael Anthony soon to follow suit.
"Sammy and The Waboritas" (2005 - present):
In 2005, Hagar continued to play with The Waboritas as he toured the Atlantic coast and the Midwest and added ex-Van Halen bass player Michael Anthony, calling the band "Los Tres Gusanos". In August of that year, Hagar went on another mini-tour starting at DTE Energy Music Theatre in Clarkston, Michigan and then hitting the southwest before finishing at his own "Tahoe Wabo Cantina". Hagar's 2006 tour with "The Waboritas" also included a segment with Michael Anthony playing as a band called "The Other Half" (a reference to Sammy and Michael being two-fourths of Van Halen, no longer playing with that band) for a set of songs in the middle of the show, including both Hagar- and Roth-era tunes. The band also invited "Kid Rock" on stage at DTE Energy Theatre for a couple of songs, including covers of "Led Zeppelin's" "Rock and Roll" and "The Beastie Boys'" "You Gotta Fight For Your Right (To Party)". Hagar released an album called "Livin' It Up" with the Wabos on July 25, 2006.
Sammy is still jammin' with "The Wabos" and is currently developing a side project called "Chickenfoot" with Michael Anthony and "Red Hot Chili Peppers" drummer Chad Smith.
Some Cool Sammy Facts:
= Hagar owns a nightclub and restaurant in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico called Cabo Wabo, where the video for the 1999 hit song "Mas Tequila" (from the Red Voodoo album) was filmed. Hagar plays at the club during his annual autumn "Birthday Bash". Hagar has also opened another nightclub in the franchise in Lake Tahoe, Nevada, and markets a highly successful line of premium tequilas by the same Cabo Wabo name. A third Cabo Wabo is planned to open in St. Louis, Missouri in the new Bottle District part of town sometime in 2007.
= The album I Never Said Goodbye was originally untitled, until MTV ran a contest to name the album. Future presses of the CD appeared with the new title.
= In 2002, Sammy Hagar was Commissioned as a Kentucky Colonel by Kentucky Governor Paul Patton.
= He currently resides in Mill Valley, California and has a house in Cabo San Lucas.
= Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on March 12, 2007 as a member of Van Halen
= In 2007, Sammy has starred in a number of National Automotive Parts Association or 'NAPA' commercials with Nextel Cup drivers Michael Waltrip and Dale Jarrett.
= Hagar wrote/co-wrote a few songs for Heart's "Brigade" Album.
ME IN CABO --- click hereSAMMY HAGAR QuotesRolling Stone's SAMMY PageAOL's SAMMY PageVH1's SAMMY Page
This site may occasionally and unintentionally promote copyrighted images, which are freely available on the worldwide web and bare no copyright notice or evidence of such . I wish to express my sincere apologies for any inconvenience in this regard and in the event that you view materials on my page which you claim to be proprietary and copyrighted, please notify me by sending me a message and I will make every effort to rectify or remove the material in question immediately or create an acknowledgment of same or supply a link to your site. Thanks.
