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Sam Roy Hagar (born October 13, 1947),[1] also known as the Red Rocker,[2] 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.[3][4][5][6][7]

Also a businessman, Hagar founded the Cabo Wabo tequila brand and restaurant chain, as well as Sammy's Beach
Bar rum.[8] 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.[9]

Early life
Sam Roy Hagar [1] was born on October 13, 1947,[3] to Robert Alton "Bobby" Hagar and Alberta "Gladys" (née
Baio) Hagar[1] in Salinas, California, and was named after his maternal grandfather, Sam Roy Baio.[10] Despite
claims that Hagar is of Lebanese descent,[11] The musician has stated he is of Irish and Italian descent.[12]
His 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.[13] There, his father Bobby had landed a job at the Kaiser Steel Mill,
working in the open hearth.[14] Bobby Hagar was an alcoholic boxer who held a record for being knocked down 20
times in a single fight.[13] Friends said he was "mentally damaged" upon returning home from fighting in World
War II.[13] "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.[13] 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.[13]

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.[15] At age 17,
Hagar went to San Bernardino and snuck 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.[13]

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[16] and
subsequently played in a string of other pre-Montrose bands including Big Bang, Skinny, Dustcloud, Cotton,
Jimmy, the Justice Brothers, and Manhole.[17] The Justice Brothers were the house band at a bar called "The
Nightclub" in San Bernardino, before they relocated to San Francisco.[18] 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.[19]

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.[13]

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.[13]

Musical career
Montrose (1973–1975)
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)

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.[20] Hagar opened for Boston during their
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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.[21]

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."[22]

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)
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)

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.[23] Hagar disagreed with a
decision to record two new tracks for a greatest hits album[24] 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. Eventually the band decided to record two songs for the Twister soundtrack.
The process was acrimonious and ultimately resulted in only one song, "Humans Being" - the other, "Between Us
Two", ended up unfinished and replaced with an instrumental played by Eddie and Alex - along with end of
Hagar's tenure. Among the problems were how Hagar was with his wife in Hawaii, where they had arranged for a
natural delivery of the baby, but the couple would eventually relocate to San Francisco after Hagar endured
three trips to California to work on the songs, and arguments with Eddie regarding rewriting his lyrics and
issuing a greatest hits album.[25][26] Van Halen would then bring David Lee Roth back to record two new songs
for said compilation, 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