Sammy Hagar
Sam Roy Hagar (born October 13, 1947), also known as the Red Rocker,[1] is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He rose to prominence in the early 1970s with the hard rock band Montrose before launching a successful solo career, scoring a hit in 1984 with "I Can't Drive 55". He enjoyed further commercial success when he replaced David Lee Roth as the lead vocalist of Van Halen in 1985, but left in 1996. He returned to the band from 2003 to 2005. In 2007, Hagar was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Van Halen. His musical style primarily consists of hard rock and heavy metal.[2][3][4][5][6]
For his second studio album, see Sammy Hagar (album).
Sammy Hagar
Sam Roy Hagar
The Red Rocker
October 13, 1947
Salinas, California, U.S.
- Singer
- songwriter
- musician
- Vocals
- guitar
1972–present
- Capitol
- Geffen
- MCA
- Cabo Wabo
- Beyond Music
- Loud & Proud
- Roadrunner
- Silverline
- earMUSIC
- 33rd Street
Also a businessman, Hagar founded the Cabo Wabo tequila brand and restaurant chain, as well as Sammy's Beach Bar rum.[7] His current musical projects include being the lead singer of Chickenfoot and Sammy Hagar and the Circle. Hagar also is the host of Rock & Roll Road Trip with Sammy Hagar on AXS TV.[8]
Early life[edit]
Sam Roy Hagar was born on October 13, 1947,[2] to Bobby and Gladys Hagar in Salinas, California, and was named after his maternal grandfather, Sam Roy Baio.[9] Hagar's family worked in the lettuce fields and he lived with his parents and three siblings in a labor camp until moving south to Fontana, California.[10] There, his father Bobby had landed a job at the Kaiser Steel Mill, working in the open hearth.[11] Bobby Hagar was an alcoholic boxer who held a record for being knocked down 20 times in a single fight.[10] Friends said he was "mentally damaged" upon returning home from fighting in World War II.[10] "My father was the town drunk," said Hagar, who described his father as "a complete alcoholic and madman" who was abusive towards his wife and children.[10] Hagar's mother would occasionally take the children to a nearby orange grove to sleep in the car when their father became too violent. The Hagar family moved frequently, as Bobby had a habit of spending the rent money on alcohol; Hagar recalls living in nine different homes in Fontana while growing up. When Hagar was ten years old, his mother Gladys took the children and left Bobby for good.[10]
Growing up, Hagar would pick fruit, deliver newspapers, and mow lawns to earn money. He excelled academically and discovered music while in high school, teaching himself to play guitar on a $40 instrument purchased from a Sears catalog. He fronted his first band, the Fabulous Castilles, when he was 14 years old.[12] At age 17, Hagar went to San Bernardino and sneaked in to see the 1964 US debut of the Rolling Stones at the Swing Auditorium. He also regularly attended concerts by surf guitarist Dick Dale at the Riverside National Guard Armory.[10]
After graduating from high school, Hagar "wanted to get out of Fontana as quickly as I could". He moved to nearby Riverside and played in a handful of local bands, while also landing a job running the music department at a local store. Hagar first joined the Johnny Fortune Band as lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist[13] and subsequently played in a string of other pre-Montrose bands including Big Bang, Skinny, Dustcloud, Cotton, Jimmy, the Justice Brothers, and Manhole.[14] The Justice Brothers were the house band at a bar called "The Nightclub" in San Bernardino, before they relocated to San Francisco.[15] During this period in Riverside, Hagar met drummer David Lauser, who would become his friend and musical partner for decades to come. Hagar then got married and moved to San Francisco.[16] At some point after landing in San Francisco, two members of his band were arrested on drug charges, and Hagar found himself broke and without a band. He subsequently spent several months driving a dump truck for his father-in-law in New York as a means of supporting himself until he could put a new band together.[10]
In 1970, Hagar returned to Fontana with his wife and new baby, pursuing a career in music full-time. While in Fontana, he claims he was visited by "a ship and two creatures inside of this ship" while he lay in bed one night. "And they were connected to me, tapped into my mind through some kind of mysterious wireless connection", he said of the experience, adding "I was kind of waking up. They said, in their communication to each other, no words spoke, 'Oh, he's waking up. We've got to go.' They fired off a numerical code, but it was not of our numerical system. All of a sudden, pow, the connection instantly broke." The experience affected Hagar deeply and led him to travel to Yucaipa, California to consult a psychic, who told Hagar that he needed to go back to San Francisco where fame was awaiting him.[10]
Musical career[edit]
Montrose (1973–1975)[edit]
While playing in a San Francisco cover band, Hagar was discovered and recruited to join Montrose, a new band being put together by noted session guitarist Ronnie Montrose. Hagar appeared on the band's debut and sophomore albums, which included the first song Hagar ever wrote, "Bad Motor Scooter". After conflicts arose between himself and Ronnie Montrose during a European tour, Hagar was fired. Bassist Bill Church, whom Montrose had fired after the first album, and drummer Denny Carmassi eventually followed Hagar out of Montrose, playing with his backing band as he embarked on a solo career.
Solo career (1976–1987, 1997, 2008, 2013–2014)[edit]
By the late 1970s, Hagar was enjoying moderate success as a solo artist on Capitol Records under the tutelage of A&R man Carter, with such albums as Nine on a Ten Scale and hits such as "Red", which would build his persona and style, leading to his nickname as "the Red Rocker". However, Hagar felt that Carter did not play to his strengths as "a heavy-metal guy" and instead tried to generate Top 40 hits (such as a cover of Otis Redding's "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay") with little success.[17] Hagar opened for Boston during their 1978/1979 "Don't Look Back" tour, and was scheduled to continue in San Bernardino, California. Prior to the show, Hagar was replaced on the bill by the up-and-coming Los Angeles club band the Knack. Hagar split with Carter for his 1979 Street Machine album which he self-produced. But after it and 1980's Danger Zone failed to break out, Hagar felt that Capitol was not supporting him sufficiently.[18]
Hagar also penned songs that became hits for other bands, notably the top 10 rocker for Rick Springfield, "I've Done Everything for You". Bette Midler recorded two Hagar songs, "Keep on Rockin" and "Red".
Eddie Van Halen approached Hagar when they played a festival together in 1978 and told him that Montrose was his favorite band, referring to himself as a "Montrose freak". Hagar has said that Eddie had been heavily influenced by Montrose, saying "Not his soloing as much as the chording – yeah, he took some of that big open chord thing [from Montrose]. The big open A, the big open D, the big open E. Everything as open as you could make it, to make it as heavy as possible with one guitar. And that was pretty much Ronnie's style, too."[19]
Hagar left Capitol for the newly formed Geffen Records and made some personnel changes, including enlisting long-time friend and former Justice Brothers bandmate David Lauser as his drummer. His first Geffen release, Standing Hampton, was his biggest-selling album to date and went platinum on the strength of songs such as "There's Only One Way to Rock". The follow-up, Three Lock Box, generated his first pop Top 40 hit single and his highest-charting solo single on the Billboard Hot 100, "Your Love Is Driving Me Crazy", which peaked at No. 13 in early 1983.
Hagar continued to enjoy commercial success in the 1980s, with perhaps his best-known song, "I Can't Drive 55", from his 1984 album VOA, reaching No. 26 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart and garnering heavy AOR airplay. By this time, Hagar had become a headlining act in many parts of the United States and Europe.
In 1987, Hagar had his first No. 1 hit on the Billboard Album Rock Tracks with "Give to Live" from I Never Said Goodbye, released after he had joined Van Halen.
HSAS (1983–1984)[edit]
In 1983 and 1984, Hagar and guitarist Neal Schon of Journey 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 "A Whiter Shade of Pale", received some airplay, peaking at No. 94 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart as "Top of the Rock" became an under-the-radar airplay favorite on AOR stations and in markets such as Seattle.
Van Halen (1985–1996)[edit]
In 1985 after parting ways with vocalist David Lee Roth, the remaining members of the band Van Halen contacted many potential replacements. In July, given Eddie Van Halen's appreciation of Montrose and at 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, number 1 Billboard charting albums: 5150, OU812, For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge, and Balance, as well as many chart hits, including nine number 1 Mainstream Rock hits. During Hagar's stint as Van Halen's vocalist, the band was often informally referred to by fans as "Van Hagar" as a way to distinguish the band from the previous David Lee Roth era.
Internal disputes eventually led to Hagar's departure from the band in June 1996.[20] Hagar disagreed with a decision to record two new tracks for a greatest hits album[21] after the band had agreed to take time off following their 1995 world tour. This issue was pushed by Van Halen's new manager Ray Danniels, Alex Van Halen's brother-in-law, who was 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, and Eddie wanted him back in the studio in California. Hagar claimed to have flown to Los Angeles with his wife only to discover that she could not 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 the greatest hits album Best Of – Volume I. When Van Halen again parted ways with Roth, instead of rehiring Hagar, the band hired Gary Cherone, the former lead singer of Extreme, also managed by Danniels.
Equipment[edit]
Hagar previously endorsed Yamaha guitars, which produced a line of Hagar signature guitars named the Yamaha AES620 SH. The guitar is based on Yamaha's AES620 and features a number of modifications requested by Hagar, including a Seymour Duncan JB pickup in the bridge position, a "Cabo Wabo" inlay at the 12th fret and custom translucent red finish.[59] In addition to his signature model, Hagar also plays a handmade AES920 solid-body guitar.[60] Previously, Hagar collaborated with Washburn Guitars, which made a Hagar signature guitar named Washburn RR150, which featured Seymour Duncan pickups and a piezo pickup incorporated into the bridge.[61] In recent years, Hagar has switched to Gibson Guitars, having two signatures by them: the "Red Rocker" Les Paul,[62] and the Sammy Hagar Explorer.[63]
Hagar has used Crate Amplifiers, which marketed a Hagar signature 120-watt amplifier named Crate BV120RH Red Voodoo Amp Head.[64] Currently, he uses Blackstar and Marshall amps, making use of the Marshall Vintage Modern 2466 head and Blackstar Series One 100-watt head.[65]
Personal life[edit]
Hagar married his first wife, Betsy Berardi, on November 3, 1968. They have two sons, Aaron (born 1970) and Andrew (born 1984). In 1994, the couple divorced after 26 years of marriage. He married his current wife, Kari Hagar, on November 29, 1995, and together they have two daughters, Kama (born 1996) and Samantha (born 2001).[66]
He is the cousin of Christian metal singer Ken Tamplin, who has performed with Joshua, Shout and Magdallan and on his own.[67]
He is a long-time Ferrari enthusiast and owns a 2008 Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano F1. He still owns the 1982 Ferrari 512BB made famous in his "I Can't Drive 55" music video.[68]
In January 2024, Hagar appeared on an episode of PBS' Finding Your Roots in which he was informed that his Y-DNA did not match any men with the surname Hagar. His Y-DNA matched 27 men with the last name Belcher. Further analysis determined that his second great-grandfather, born in Virginia in 1845, was fathered by a Belcher and not the Hagar named in the paper records.[69]
