Sam Just Won't Stop

[Vinnie Velvet]

Ed was the greatest guitar player of all time. The six pack is a testament to that title.

However....

He was a neurotic, paranoid, drug riddled, chain smoking alcoholic who in my opinion is the main culprit for the downfall of his once great band.

[Nitro Express]

Ed definitely was his own enemy. Al realized he had a problem and from what I hear once he set his mind to cleaning up he was a way better person. Unfortunately Ed didn’t and things would have been better if he did.

Valerie is a whack job. Like Sammy she’s using her affiliation with Ed to promote herself. It’s pretty sick. Well honey, you probably helped kill him by making him so miserable he couldn’t kick the booze and cigarettes because he had to deal with you.

[twonabomber]

https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/sammy-hagar-planned-retire-until-received-call-eddie-van-halen

This ran on the Fox News site the other day.

Sammy Hagar planned to retire until he received a call from Eddie Van Halen

The Red Rocker joined Van Halen in 1985 after a successful solo career and performing with the band Montrose

Sammy Hagar and Van Halen almost never were.

While speaking to Fox News Digital after receiving his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame Tuesday, Hagar explained he was about to pump the brakes on his music career — until Eddie Van Halen called.

"Then comes Van Halen when I was ready to retire. I hate to use that word because I swear it’s not in my DNA. But I was ready to say, ‘You know, I’m going to quit for a while. I’m going to stop. I’ve been touring my whole life,’" the rocker shared.

"This is 1985, you know. I just came off a major tour, platinum albums in a row, you know. I was rich and famous. So, I thought, ‘Why am I going to keep doing this?’ And then Eddie [Van Halen] calls. That was a defining moment."

Before his time as Van Halen’s frontman, Hagar rose to fame playing with the band Montrose in the 1970s and then had a successful solo career.

Hagar told Fox News Digital with a laugh that another defining moment of his career was "getting thrown out of Van Halen" in 1996 after creative differences with Eddie. "I had to roll up my sleeves and go back to work."

He said joining Montrose early on was also an important moment in his career.

"Joining Montrose was a big step from playing clubs, someone else's music, to writing my own music and making my own album of original material and then going on tour all over the world," he told Fox News Digital. "So, that was a big moment. I mean, that was a defining moment. I learned everything from Ronnie Montrose. How to play on stage, how to write songs, how to do all that."

He eventually rejoined Van Halen from 2003 to 2005 and was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the group in 2007. Eddie Van Halen died in 2020.

Hagar was joined Tuesday by celebrities like fellow Van Halen member Michael Anthony, Red Hot Chili Peppers musician Chad Smith, John Mayer and Food Network star Guy Fieri.

"But it was great. It was an amazing ceremony and so deserved by Sammy," he added. "Such a great guy, way beyond the music. He’s a philanthropist. He’s a community guy. He’s a worldly person. This was one of the highlights of my career without question."

Mayer also spoke about his bond with Hagar during his speech at the ceremony.

"Sammy Hagar was already a hugely successful artist in his own right when he was asked to join Van Halen," Mayer told the audience gathered near Amoeba Music on Hollywood Boulevard.

"He certainly didn’t have to join another band to continue making hit records. I think the reason he took them up on the offer is for the same reason he does anything — because it sounded like fun. Sammy is driven by having fun. Sammy has the kind of fun we only dream about letting ourselves have.

"Every time I think of him, a thought comes to mind that I’d like to share with you today: Wherever you are, whatever you’re doing, Sammy Hagar is having way more fun than you."

[twonabomber]

So let's pick this apart.

Anyone who believes Sam was going to retire is an idiot.

Platinum albums in a row? Um, no. Standing Hampton came out in 1982 but didn't go platinum until 1992! Three Lock Box only went gold, VOA was released in 1984 and went platinum in November of '85. His first post-VH solo album went gold...and he hasn't had a gold or platinum solo album since. Well, maybe Unboxed, but it's a compilation and it didn't go gold until '95. Proof: https://www.riaa.com/gold-platinum/?...search_section

We've gone over the "I played multiple nights in arenas" thing before.

The Hollywood walk of fame doesn't just hand out stars, one has to be sponsored and someone has to pay for it. Someone may have sponsored Hagar, I wouldn't be surprised to find out he paid for it himself.

[Seshmeister]

I'm beginning to wonder how accurate these Fox News people actually are.

[FORD]

So apparently there's a "super deluxe box set" edition of the Van Hagar "FUCK" album coming out. Complete with "alternate" tracks and a blu ray of their 1991 concert in Dallas.
Why the fuck haven't they already done this with any of the actual Van HALEN albums? Maybe this has something to do with those rants Dave put out against Sammy & Alex a while back?

[Silexxx]

Yeah wtf. Also all the Hagar videos they have uploaded to VH's official YouTube channel have been HD remastered. CVH videos look like crap and only are 240p or something.

Too bad to those Van Hagar fans who bought that basic ass box set that didn't have anything special in it just 8 months ago. There's really nothing "new" here either. Just some alternate versions and that free Dallas show. Seems like they are starting to milking that era now. "Limited Edition"

And all those CVH re-re-releases. All 5 of them or how many there have been. Why didn't any of those have anything new or unreleased material? Maybe it's Dave lol. Is he the one who's blocking VH releasing anything that hasn't been already released? Or who?

[Vinnie Velvet]

So apparently there's a "super deluxe box set" edition of the Van Hagar "FUCK" album coming out. Complete with "alternate" tracks and a blu ray of their 1991 concert in Dallas.
Why the fuck haven't they already done this with any of the actual Van HALEN albums? Maybe this has something to do with those rants Dave put out against Sammy & Alex a while back?

Yeah I dont get this release.

While all of Van Hagar is lame, FUCK is not even their most successful album. So why feature it in some expanded edition?

We want Van HALEN expanded edition releases. Not this Hagar shit.

[Terry]

So let's pick this apart.

Anyone who believes Sam was going to retire is an idiot.

Platinum albums in a row? Um, no. Standing Hampton came out in 1982 but didn't go platinum until 1992! Three Lock Box only went gold, VOA was released in 1984 and went platinum in November of '85. His first post-VH solo album went gold...and he hasn't had a gold or platinum solo album since. Well, maybe Unboxed, but it's a compilation and it didn't go gold until '95. Proof: https://www.riaa.com/gold-platinum/?...search_section

We've gone over the "I played multiple nights in arenas" thing before.

The Hollywood walk of fame doesn't just hand out stars, one has to be sponsored and someone has to pay for it. Someone may have sponsored Hagar, I wouldn't be surprised to find out he paid for it himself.

I could see where Hagar had been planning to take a break after the VOA tour which coincided right around the time Dave left the band and Eddie called. A break in terms of a vacation. I don't think Hagar was actually going to 'retire' back in 1985. Hagar's original claims were along the lines of him having just completed the VOA tour and looking forward to taking a long break/vacation when Eddie first called about jamming with the band.

VOA was Hagar's best-selling effort in his career up to that point, but it wasn't a multiplatinum smash right out of the box in 1985. As you say, it just broke platinum about a year after it was released. I don't know what the state of Hagar's finances were back in 1985, but based on his record sales I doubt he was a millionaire several times over in 1985. It wasn't like VOA was selling tens of millions of units and Hagar could afford to walk away from the industry back in 1985.

It just sounds better for Sam's narrative these days to say "blah blah blah, I was about to retire forever, then Eddie Van Halen called, blah blah blah" than it is to simply be truthful about it.

Had Hagar actually retired after the VOA album, at best he'd be a trivia answer on a pop culture Jeopardy question. "Who wrote the mid-1980's song 'I Can't Drive 55' for $100?"

[ZahZoo]

At that time... Hagar stating "I was thinking retiring" really meant he'd reached a significant milestone in suckage with his future outlook dim...

[Terry]

I'm sure after the VOA tour concluded Hagar had a few bucks in the bank given that even though his solo career was modest compared to the success of CVH, unlike CVH Hagar wasn't splitting his earnings 4 ways. Hagar had a degree of name recognition as a solo act prior to joining Van Halen, to be sure. I never thought of Hagar as all THAT successful as a solo artist in commercial terms either before or after he was in Van Halen. It hasn't been a thing with Hagar where his back catalog was selling a million albums a year, year after year. Like, even if Hagar had negotiated a good record deal for his solo albums after he left Montrose, it'd still have been based on the number of units sold to some degree, even if he was taking advances from the record company.

Meh. Who gives a fuck?

[Silexxx]

https://blabbermouth.net/news/sammy-hagar-we-reached-out-to-alex-van-halen-a-dozen-times-about-taking-part-in-the-best-of-all-worlds-tour

Regarding if there was any attempt made to see if Alex would be interested in taking part in "The Best Of All Worlds" prior to getting Bonham involved, Hagar said: "Mike and I reached out to Alex before we did this. We reached out to him a dozen times before this tour, in every way. E-mail, text message, phone call, message on the machine, okay? No response. No response. I mean, we made every offer to get together or to just talk or to have breakfast, lunch or dinner. Go to the studio and play. Come to my house or I'll come to your house. Go ride horses, go sit on the beach. What do you want to do? Let's just do something. Let's get together. And nothing."
Explaining that he and Alex Van Halen "don't have a relationship," Hagar added: "When the tour came, the first person we called and left all of the messages, sent all of emails, it was Alex Van Halen. Mike and I said, 'We're wanting to do this thing.' Alex's famous line to me [was], 'Sammy, we ain't getting any younger.' Mike and I said, 'Alex, we ain't getting any younger. We're going out and playing for the people. We're going to go honor the VAN HALEN catalog. Let's just get together and let's talk about it. Mike and I, we're going out, we're going to do this, Alex. Please join us. Let's be friends, let's bury the hatchet, whatever.' There was no response. I was saying, 'He'll come to a show, he's got to — in L.A. or something. I'm sure he'll come.' But no, no, he sold all of his equipment. That was his statement. That was like, 'ah, I ain't coming nowhere.'"

[Vinnie Velvet]

Sam is such a douchebag.

Listen McFagar, Alex doesn't want to hang with you or have anything to do with you.

[Terry]

Sam is such a douchebag.

Listen McFagar, Alex doesn't want to hang with you or have anything to do with you.

I mean, the thing about it is, doubtless Hagar tells the story to make sure everybody knows he tried to be the nice guy and include Alex.

But with my experience, the few truly decent people I've known personally...the common denominator with all of them is that NONE of them EVER made public announcements designed to SHOW everybody how decent they were. Like, if a person is decent, they know it and are comfortable letting others find out on their own...and if others don't acknowledge how decent they are, said person is fine with that, too.

The other part of it is...I mean, Hagar reached out to Alex "a dozen" times about participating in this tour. To my mind, once or twice would be sufficient. Reaching out any more than that...just seems cringe and desperate.

[Silexxx]

I just imagine Alex in his house minding his own business and then his answering machine beeps "Hey Alex, it's Sam again....Wanna go horse riding? No? How about to the beach? We don't even need to talk... just sit there. C'mon! Let's be friends!"