Van Halen Saved Sammy Hagar

William Lee | 11-26-2019

Sammy Hagar says that he believed that Van Halen saved him and he joined the band at a point in his career that he needed to be reminded of what was real about being in rock n' roll.

Hagar reflected on joining the band during his recent appearance at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles. He had this to say about becoming a member of Van Halen, "I was getting rich and famous. I was digging it. I had worked my whole life in bands from '72 to '85.

"I had been on tour, making records, on tour, making records. Took a couple vacations, but not much. I am saying, 'I'm going to take a big, long break.' I shaved my hair off and came home from tour, and the next day, I get a call from Eddie Van Halen. It's like, 'Oh my God. I don't want to do this.'

"I was thinking about wearing suits. I was going to change my whole image. I really don't know what I was thinking, I just know I was buying suits and nice shoes and stuff.

"The good part is that Eddie and Alex [Van Halen] and Mike [Anthony] saved me, because when I walked into their studio, these guys were like bums, beer bottles and cigarette butts.

"It was the filthiest, most rock 'n' roll thing. Eddie comes out of bed, fell asleep with his clothes on, got up and went right back to work with the same clothes. I went, 'Man, these guys are the real deal,' and fell into the program."