Hagar had his biggest success as David Lee Roth's replacement in Van Halen from 1985-1996, but he began his musical career as a member of the '70s heavy metal band Montrose (named after its guitarist, Ronnie Montrose). Hagar left the group in 1975 because of tensions created by his wild style of guitar playing.
His father Bobby was a boxer, and for a short time, so was Sammy. One of Sammy's favorite stage moves is "hit the speed bag."
Hagar's backing band before he joined Van Halen was comprised mainly of musicians from Montrose: bassist Bill Church, keyboardist Alan Fitzgerald, and drummer Dennis Carmasi. Guitarist David Lewark was also a member of the Sammy Hagar Band.
After leaving Van Halen, Hagar moved to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, where he bought a club and produced his own brand of tequila.
Just before joining Van Halen, he teamed up with Neal Schon (Santana, Journey, Bad English), Kenny Aaronson and Michael Shrieve to tour under the name HSAS (Hagar Schon Aaronson Shrieve). They released an album in 1984 called Through the Fire that went to #42 in the US.
At the 1994 Bay Area Music Awards, Hagar not only won an award for outstanding male vocalist, but also for public service.
Hagar has been married most of his life, but to two different women. His first wife, Betsy, he married in 1968 when he was just 21. They were married until their divorce in 1994; the next year, he married his second wife, Kari.
Hagar has four children - two from each marriage. His first two kids, son Aaron (born 1970) and Andrew (born in 1984), are also musicians. Andrew used the name "Drew Hagus" for a while so stay out of his father's shadow.
Hagar was born in Salinas, California, but moved with his parents when he was young up the state to Fontana, where he went to high school. He made his way to the San Francisco area, where he played in cover bands before joining Montrose in 1973.
Hagar had his own show called Rock & Roll Road Trip With Sammy Hagar that launched in 2016 and ran until 2020, when it was killed by COVID. Hagar would travel to meet with other musicians on their turf. Popular episodes include his trip to Phoenix to see Alice Cooper, and a visit to the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles with Michael Anthony and Tommy Lee.
He considers himself a gourmet chef, and claims to have cooked for celebrity chefs like Emeril Lagasse and Mario Batali.
In the late 1990s, Hagar began selling Cabo Wabo tequila, a handmade tequila he'd commissioned from a family-owned distillery in the Mexican state of Jalisco. By 2006 it was the second-best-selling premium tequila in the United States. The following year Hagar sold an 80% interest in his Cabo Wabo Tequila to Gruppo Campari for $80 million. In doing so, he made more money in a single day than in his entire music career. Three years later, Hagar sold the remaining 20% interest for another $11 million.
Sammy Hagar's first-ever guitar was a Sears & Roebuck guitar in a case with an amplifier. It cost $39.95 back on 1965 and the young rocker's mom paid for it.
Sammy Hagar is known as The Red Rocker, referring to his 1977 track "
Red." The singer told Radio.com's Ryan Castle his nickname dates back to a gig back in January 1978 where admission was $1. Hagar encountered a fan the day after he performed at the show. "I walk out of my hotel room the next morning and some guy named Big John, who's still a fan, walks up to me with a newspaper and says 'hey, can [you] sign the paper?'" he recalled. "And I go, 'hey I'm getting recognized! We just played for a dollar and I'm a star?'"
When Hagar signed it "Sammy Hagar," Big John asked him, "can you sign it The Red Rocker?" as the newspaper had called him "The Red Rocker." It was the first time ever that Hagar had heard himself being referred to in that way.
Hagar fronted a band called Chickenfoot that included his Van Halen bandmate Michael Anthony on bass, Joe Satriani on guitar, and Chad Smith of Red Hot Chili Peppers on drums. They toured and recorded from 2008-2012, releasing two albums.
Anthony and Satriani both toured with Hagar in 2024; Hagar liked to joke that Satriani only had two singers in his life, and he was both of them.
Hagar spends a lot of his considerable fortune on cars. He's always loved hot rods and often puts them into his songs. In the '70s he was a Trans Am guy, then he moved on to more exotic vehicles and classic cars, amassing a collection that includes a 1970 El Camino and a 2006 Lotus Elise. He has a garage full of Ferraris as well - in the "
I Can't Drive 55" he's in his 512 Berlinetta Boxer.
