Former Van Halen singer Sammy Hagar recently reflected on a chaotic, nerve-filled backstage moment and opened up about the astonishing list of major bands he has turned down throughout his career.
Sammy Hagar talks about Steven Tyler
Speaking with NME about performing Black Sabbath’s “Flying High Again”, Hagar admitted he initially botched the lyrics, “Although I didn’t know the words to Black Sabbath’s ‘Flying High Again’. I screwed up the first verse, but I have redeemed myself since!”
Hagar said he ended up finding confidence in the moment after seeing Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler struggling with pre-show nerves backstage:
“Backstage, Steven Tyler was a wreck and freaking out about going onstage. I said: ‘Steven, what the hell? Do you want me to walk out there with you?’. I wasn’t as scared as him, but I was nervous. I picked the right song with ‘Flying High Again’, and I chose ‘Rock Candy’ because it’s an early track from my old band Montrose from 1973, the same era as Black Sabbath, with a similar heavy groove. I was honoured to be asked to do it.”
Hagar confirmed that Velvet Revolver once attempted to recruit him. It wasn’t the only offer. He recalled being approached to front Aerosmith in 2009 after Steven Tyler’s stage injury:
“Every damn band you’ve ever heard of has tried to get me in at some point! Even when Steven Tyler went off the rails and fell off the stage in 2009, [Aerosmith’s] Joe Perry and their manager called me up and asked me to join the band for a South American and US tour. I started making a setlist in my head of classics like ‘Livin’ On The Edge’. Then I thought, ‘Am I f**king crazy? I ain’t going to try and replace a guy like Steven Tyler’. When Robert Plant and Jimmy Page weren’t getting on, people in the industry were trying to get me to front Led Zep – who are one of my favourite bands in the world, but I wouldn’t be caught dead trying to replace Robert Plant! Who else? Anthrax, even the [Grateful] Dead – the Grateful Dead’s Bob Weir and me are dear friends, and we’ve talked a million times about me being in the band.”
“But I think: are you trying to put nails in my coffin, you fu**ers! [Laughs] I did it once with Dave in Van Halen. If I did it again, it would change my whole legacy. I’d be the guy who replaced two singers, instead of Sammy Hagar. I’m happy with the career path I’ve taken. Getting kicked out of Montrose [in 1975] was the best thing that ever happened to me, and getting kicked out of Van Halen [in 1996] was the second best thing. I wouldn’t change anything.”
