Sammy Hagar

Sammy Hagar
Sammy Hagar live at the Moondance Jam on July 10, 2008. Photo by Matt Becker
Background information
Birth name	Samuel Roy Hagar
Also known as	The Red Rocker
Born	October 13, 1947 (1947-10-13) (age 61) Monterey, California
Genre(s)	Rock, hard rock, heavy metal
Instrument(s)	Vocals, Guitar
Years active	1973–present
Associated acts	Van Halen, Montrose, The Waboritas, HSAS, Chickenfoot
Notable instrument(s)
Yamaha Sammy Hagar Signature model Custom VOA Dean ML Custom Jackson King V

Samuel Roy "Sammy" Hagar (born October 13, 1947), known as "The Red Rocker", is an American rock guitarist, singer, and composer. Hagar was one of the singers for Van Halen, as well as of the early 1970s rock band Montrose. He is of Lebanese, Irish and Italian descent and is the cousin of Christian rock musician Ken Tamplin. On March 12, 2007, Hagar was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Van Halen. He currently resides in Mill Valley, California.

Biography

Hagar was born in Monterey, California, United States, North America.

Pre-Montrose years

After a brief career as a boxer in the footsteps of his father, Hagar became interested in the burgeoning Southern California music scene, fronting his first band, The Fabulous Catillas.

In 1968, Hagar joined his first professional group, the Johnny Fortune Band, as a vocalist and rhythm guitarist.^{[citation needed]} In 1963, in response to a question on late night radio about who the world's greatest guitarist was, Hagar immediately named Johnny Fortune.^[1]

Reportedly, Hagar was also in some other pre-Montrose bands including Skinny, Justice Brothers, Dustcloud, Cotton, Jimmy, and Manhole.^{[citation needed]}

Justice Brothers also featured drummer David Lauser.^{[citation needed]}

Montrose years (1973 - 1975)

Hagar's first major success, however, came from his work with the group Montrose on their debut and second albums, including the Hagar-penned song "Bad Motor Scooter". After difficulties with the band's founder, Ronnie Montrose, during a European tour, Hagar departed from the group with bassist Bill Church in tow and drummer Denny Carmassi followed in 1977.

Solo (1976 - 1984)

Hagar started 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", a gripe against the federally-imposed speed limit of 55 miles per hour on all U.S. highways. (The limit was increased on certain roads in 1987, and the law repealed in 1995; the song was updated for NASCAR broadcasts on NBC in 2001 to 65, and is used in NHL Rivals 2004.) 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".

HSAS (1984)

In 1983-84 Sammy Hagar and 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 released an album, Through The Fire. The tracks which appeared on the album were recorded live, but crowd noise was removed during the mixing process to create the feel of a studio album. 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 Pop 100 Singles chart.

Van Halen years (1985 - 1996)

After parting ways with vocalist David Lee Roth, the remaining members of the band Van Halen contacted many potential replacements. Given Eddie's appreciation of Montrose and his car mechanic's suggestion, the band auditioned and quickly hired Hagar to fill the opening. With Hagar at the front, Van Halen produced four multi-platinum, #1 Billboard charting albums: 5150, OU812, For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge, and Balance, as well as many chart hits, including nine #1 Mainstream Rock hits. Internal disputes eventually led to Hagar's departure from the band in 1996. Hagar disagreed with a decision to record two new tracks for the soundtrack to the film Twister, after the band had agreed to take time off following their 1995 world tour. Hagar was also opposed to the issuance of a greatest hits record at that point in the band's career. These two items were pushed by Van Halen's new manager Ray Danniels, Alex Van Halen's brother-in-law, brought in after the death of their longtime manager Ed Leffler. Hagar wanted instead to record a new studio album, but only after Eddie, Alex, and Hagar's pregnant wife had all dealt with their respective medical issues. Although there are several versions of how the split occurred, Hagar has stated that the final straw came when he was with his wife in Hawaii, where they had arranged for a natural delivery of the baby (meaning outside of a hospital), and Eddie wanted him back in the studio. Hagar claimed to have flown to Los Angeles with his wife only to discover that she couldn't fly back to Hawaii. In the ensuing argument, he claims that he was fired. Eddie, on the other hand, says that Hagar quit. The end came when Eddie started to work with former lead singer David Lee Roth instead of Hagar, and two new songs were made with Roth for Best of Volume I. When Van Halen again parted ways with Roth, instead of rehiring Hagar, the band hired a new singer, Gary Cherone.

Solo again (1996 - 2002)

Hagar went on to produce several new solo records after parting ways with Van Halen in 1996. In 1999, Hagar formed a long term 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 Gnader.

Planet Us (2002 - 2003)

In 2002, with Van Halen still unreformed at this point, Hagar joined again with guitarists Neal Schon of Journey and later Joe Satriani 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.

Van Halen reforms (2003 - 2005)

Hagar with Van Halen, 2004

After the successful "Heavyweights of Rock" tour (2002), where he co-headlined with David Lee Roth, (and jokingly suggested the name the "Sans Halen Tour") 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, however, most notably Eddie Van Halen's alleged relapse into alcoholism, which resulted 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 backstage after the show and eliminated the possibility of a new album. Hagar said in an interview that Eddie had changed and wasn't the same person anymore.

Sammy and The Waboritas (2006 - 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 (The Three Worms). 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 Cabo 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 the half of Van Halen that was not Van Halen by name) 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 also released an album and DVD called "Livin' It Up! In St. Louis" with the Wabos on July 25, 2006. Sammy has a longstanding and strong relationship with St. Louis. Often in concerts, Sammy can be seen wearing a red St. Louis Cardinals cap. Sammy has said that he credits St. Louis and the longtime rock radio station KSHE in St. Louis with helping to launch his professional career.

Hagar is currently developing a side project called "Chickenfoot" with Michael Anthony, Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith and guitarist Joe Satriani, which will include a yet unnamed studio album release. Hagar has said the band has written 8 or 9 songs that sound like Led Zeppelin. Hagar says Chickenfoot has nine songs already recorded and the group is headed back to the studio in December to record two more. Hagar also says Chickenfoot will hopefully have the album released in February or March of 2009.[1] Hagar also released new singles entitled "Open" and "I'm on a Roll" via digital providers.

Musical equipment

Hagar is currently endorseed by Yamha Guitars which are currently producing a line of Sammy Hagar signature guitars named the Yamaha ES620SH. The guitar is based on Yamaha's AES620 guitar and features a number of modifications requested by Hagar, invluding a Seymour Duncan JB pickup in the bridgeposition, a "Cabo Wabo" inlay at 12th fret and custom translucent red finish.^[2] In addition to his signature model Hagar also plays a handmade AES920 solid body guitar.^[3] Prevously Hagar collaborated with Washburn Guitars which also made a Sammy Hagar signature guitar named Washburn RR150 which also featured Seymoure Duncan pickups and a piezo pickup incorporated into the bridge.^[4]

Hagar currently uses Crate Amplifiers^[5] which is concurrently marketing a Sammy Hagar signature 120 watt amplifier named Crate BV120RH Red Voodoo Amp Head.^[6]

Business Interests

Exterior view of Hagar's Cabo Wabo restaurant/nightclub in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

• Hagar owns a nightclub and restaurant in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico called Cabo Wabo Cantina, 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. Cabo Wabo Cantina opened in Fresno CA on August 29, 2008. A future Cabo Wabo is planned to open in St. Louis, Missouri.
• It was announced on May 7, 2007 that Hagar was selling an 80% interest in his Cabo Wabo Tequila to Gruppo Campari, the world's seventh-largest spirits company, for $80 million. Skyy Spirits of San Francisco, a vodka producer and subsidiary of Milan's Gruppo Campari, will market Cabo Wabo globally, with continued participation by Hagar. Gerry Ruvo, president and chief executive of Skyy Spirits said "Sammy has done a fantastic job building the brand, so we are going to obviously spend time with him and work with him to continue our efforts to take the brand to an even larger level, both here in the U.S. and, more important, globally." Ruvo said Great Britain, Spain, Australia, Southeast Asia, Japan, Germany and Italy are considered key expansion markets for Tequila. Hagar created Cabo Wabo Tequila to serve patrons at his Cabo Wabo Cantina in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. He began to distribute it in 1999. Last year, his company sold 147,000 cases, making it the second-best-selling premium Tequila in the United States, he said in a telephone interview. ^[7] Cabo Wabo Enterprises, based in Novato, Calif., earned about $60 million in sales in 2007.^[8]

Additional Biographical Notes

Lists of miscellaneous information should be avoided. Please relocate any relevant information into appropriate sections or articles. (July 2008)

• He is interviewed in the 1991 documentary Finally.
• 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.
• In 2007, Hagar starred in a number of National Automotive Parts Association ('NAPA') commercials with Nextel Cup drivers Michael Waltrip and Dale Jarrett. The campaign centers around Hagar's song "I Can't Drive 55", changing the words to "I Can't Drive the 55", a reference to Waltrip's car number 55.
• Hagar co-wrote two songs for Heart's "Brigade" Album.
• Hagar covered the Patti Smith song "Free Money" early in her career. In 2007, Smith and Van Halen were both inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. "Free Money" was prominently featured in a video montage of Smith's performances. At the end of the induction show, Hagar jammed with Smith to her song "People Have the Power".
• Hagar was present at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival, and he was in the VH1 documentary about Monterey, stating that it changed his life.^{[citation needed]}
• Hagar holds the city record for selling more tickets in St. Louis than any other musical entertainer in St. Louis history.^[9]
• Hagar penned the song "I've Done Everything For You", which appeared on Rick Springfield's 1981 album "Working Class Dog". Hagar used to introduce the song in concert by saying, "I wrote this song, but Rick Springfield had a hit with it because he's better looking."
• On May 23, 2006, San Bernardino County California supervisors declared the day to be "Sammy Hagar Day". Hagar showed up at the county chamber with his mother, Gladys. He then gave a short speech, posed with commissioners for photos, embraced his mother, and left through a back door.^[10]
• The song "Sammy Hagar Weekend" is a popular song by punk rock band Thelonious Monster, and is listed on their CD Stormy Weather.
• Hagar appeared in Celebrity Ghost Stories on The Biography Channel. He told of how he was awakened by someone pounding on his front door. It was his estranged father, in a drunken stupor and asking to see his new grandson. Hagar angrily sent his father away. Moments later, the loud knocking resumed but when Hagar opened the door, it was a bandmate alerting Hagar to a phone call. Hagar's father had been found dead that night. As they were seperated by several hundred miles, it would have been impossible for Hagar's father to have been at his front door only moments before.

Albums

Montrose

• Montrose (1973) RIAA: Platinum
• Paper Money (1974)

Sammy Hagar - Solo

• Nine On A Ten Scale (1976)
• Sammy Hagar (1977) RIAA: Gold
• Musical Chairs (1977)
• Street Machine (1979)
• Danger Zone (1980)
• Standing Hampton (1981) RIAA: Platinum
• Three Lock Box (1982) RIAA: Gold
• VOA (1984) RIAA: Platinum
• I Never Said Goodbye (1987)
• Marching To Mars (1997)
• Cosmic Universal Fashion (2008)

HSAS

• Through The Fire (1984) #42 US, #92 UK

Van Halen

• 5150 (1986) RIAA: 6x Platinum
• OU812 (1988) RIAA: 4x Platinum
• For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge (1991) RIAA: 3x Platinum
• Live: Right Here, Right Now (1993) RIAA: 2x Platinum
• Balance (1995) RIAA: 3x Platinum
• Best of Volume I (1996) RIAA: 3x Platinum
• Best of Both Worlds (2004) RIAA: Platinum

Sammy Hagar and the The Waboritas/Wabos

• Red Voodoo - Sammy Hagar and The Waboritas (1999) #22 US
• Ten 13 - Sammy Hagar and The Waboritas (2000) #52 US
• Not 4 Sale - Sammy Hagar and The Waboritas (Oct 1, 2002) #181 US
• Live: Hallelujah - Sammy Hagar and The Waboritas (May 2003) #152 US
• Livin' It Up - Sammy Hagar and The Wabos (2006) #50 US

Chickenfoot

• Untitled 2009 release see chickenfoot

Compilations and live

• All Night Long -live (Sept. 1978) #89 US
• Loud & Clear (March 1980)
• Rematch (1982)
• Live 1980 (1983)
• Looking Back (1986)
• Rematch And More (1987)
• Live - Very Live In Concert (1989)
• Red Hot! (1992) Taken from All Night Long & Live 1980
• The Best Of Sammy Hagar (1992)
• Unboxed (1994) #51 US RIAA: Gold
• Anthology (1995)
• Turn Up the Music! (1995)
• The Best Of Sammy Hagar (1999)
• Very Best Of Sammy Hagar (2001)
• Classic Masters (Oct 8, 2002)
• Greatest Hits Live! (Oct. 2003)
• The Essential Red Collection (2004) #76 US

Singles

• "Flamingos Fly" (1977)
• "Turn Up the Music" (1977)
• "You Make Me Crazy" (1977) #62 US
• "I've Done Everything For You" (1978)
• "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" (1979) #65 US
• "Heart Beat" (1979)
• "Straight to the Top" (1979)
• "Plain Jane" (1979) #77 US
• "I'll Fall in Love Again" (1982) #43 US
• "Piece of My Heart" (1982) #73 US, #67 UK
• "Your Love Is Driving Me Crazy" (1983) #13 US
• "Never Give Up" (1983) #46 US
• "Whiter Shade of Pale" - as HSAS (1984) #94 US
• "Two Sides of Love" (1984) #38 US
• "I Can't Drive 55" (1984) #26 US
• "Winner Takes It All" (1987) #54 US
• "Give to Live" (1987) #23 US, #78 UK
• "Eagles Fly" (1987) #82 US
• "Little White Lie" (1997)
• "Marching to Mars" (1997)
• "Mas Tequila" (1999) #116 US
• "Serious Juju" (2000)
• "I'll Take You There" (2005)
• "Sam I Am" (2006)
• "Open" (2007)
• "I'm On A Roll" (2008)

DVD and VHS

• Cabo Wabo Birthday Bash Tour (2001)
• Long Road To Cabo (2003)
• Sammy and The Wabos: Livin' It Up In St. Louis (2007)

References

• "What Sammy Hagar Sez". HM Magazine (66). July/August 1997. ISSN 1066-6923, http://web.archive.org/web/20001031180228/www.hmmagazine.com/archives/SammyHagar.htm. Retrieved on 30 April 2007. 

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Sammy Hagar

• Official Sammy Hagar Website
• Van Halen Store Official Sammy Hagar, Cabo Wabo & Van Halen merchandise
• Van Halen News Desk Sammy Hagar & Van Halen news
• The Number One Sammy Hagar Discography
• Sammy Hagar at the Internet Movie Database
• Sammy Hagar at the All-Music Guide
• Sammy Hagar's Political Contributions
• DVD Review of Livin' It Up! in St. Louis at Monsters and Critics

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