Sammy Hagar buzzed about his new Las Vegas residency, cocktail line and Cabo San Lucas tourism ambassadorship
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Sammy Hagar has learned to roll with the punches, as befits a former boxer turned Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee who in 1995 was fired from his decade-long gig as the lead singer in Van Halen.
The veteran solo star has also learned to stay extremely active, on stage and off.
“I’m about as busy as a man can be — and I don’t know why. I’m confused!” Hagar said, speaking by phone recently from his Marin County home.
How busy? Here are some examples.
He’s now putting the finishing touches on a new album, tentatively titled “Crazy Times,” that should be released later this year.
In January, he was named the first-ever Honorary Tourism Ambassador of Los Cabos, the once-sleepy Baja Mexico municipality-turned-resort-hub, where he opened his highly successful Cabo Wabo nightclub and restaurant in 1990. Hagar was also awarded a Los Cabos Medal of Honor, in recognition of his decades promoting the area, where he first began spending winter vacations in the mid-1980s.
Last fall, he launched a canned rum cocktail line, Sammy’s Beach Bar Cocktail Co. It’s a successor to his Cabo Wabo Tequila line — which he sold more than a decade ago for $91 million — and his more recent Sammy’s Beach Bar Rum.
Also last fall, he began the first Las Vegas residency of his career at The STRAT Hotel Casino & SkyPod. His second residency there begins Wednesday through Saturday, followed by performances March 23 to 26.
He’ll be accompanied at The STRAT by his longtime band, The Circle. It teams him with one-time Led Zeppelin drummer Jason Bonham, lead guitarist Vic Johnson and bassist Michael Anthony, who is Hagar’s former band mate in Van Halen.
Their first residency saw them joined by an array of guests musicians, including Grateful Dead co-founder Bob Weir, former ten idol Rick Springfield and Ratt singer Stephen Pearcy, a former San Diegan.
‘Are you a Deadhead?’
“Are you a Deadhead? Bob (Weir) is a very very spaced out guy,” Hagar said with a chuckle.
“You ask him: ‘What do you want to play?’ He’ll say: ‘Figure it out,’ and tell you 120 songs. You rehearse them, and — come that night — he wants to play a different song. So you rehearse that. Then, when you get on stage, Bob says: ‘I want to change the tempo on that song, and the key.’
“With guitar solos, his famous line is: ‘Lets take a long walk in the woods on this solo’.”
Hagar spoke to the Union-Tribune for nearly an hour. Here are edited excerpts form that conversation.
Q: You are playing at The STRAT Theater at The STRAT Hotel, Casino & SkyPod in Las Vegas, so I have to ask: Are you playing a vintage Fender Stratocaster, or a special new Fender Stratocaster at the shows?
A: You know, I’m a Gibson Les Paul guy. I can’t play a Fender. Vic, my lead guitarist, plays a Fender. ... For me, playing a Strat is like trying to wrestle a professional wrestler. I was raised on Gibson guitars, and my hands feel right when I’m playing one. I have Strats; I just don’t play them. What’s cool about the new STRAT in Vegas is that they’ve remodeled the venue since we played it last fall. They brought in a new sound and lighting system, which is cool. And they’re putting 1½ million dollars into remodeling the lobby of the venue, so that’s it’s decorated like being in Cabo, with palm trees and a Mariachi band, and we serve all my cocktails and beverages.
Q: What does a Las Vegas residency allow you to do that a one-off concert doesn’t?
A: I think that, out of the six nights I played at The STRAT last fall, I only did maybe 10 songs twice. We were doing about 20 songs a night and probably did a total of 140 or so different songs. One night, we did the whole first Montrose album. Another night, we did a dozen Van Hagar songs, and two or three songs from a new Circle album coming out later this year, tentatively called “Crazy Times.” We really push ourselves in Vegas, and I love mixing it up.
Q: If someone had told you 50 years ago, or even 10 years ago, that in 2021 and 2022 you’d be playing a residency in Vegas, how would you have reacted?
A: I would have laughed them out of the room! When I was a young buck, trying to be the coolest guy in the world, Vegas was not the place for that. And it still isn’t. But I’m 74. And I’m sitting here going: ‘Yeah, my fans are old enough to come to Vegas now, and I’m old enough.’
But Vegas really has changed. Everyone plays there now, including the youngest, coolest bands in the world. Every concert tour stops there, and Vegas has great restaurants, great hotels and some of the greatest shows.
I think Vegas has become a very hip, cool place. But it is one of those things where people might still think of doing a residency there as being for people in the retirement community. Well, hell, I’m one of them! And I’m having a good time.
Q: Asking someone how they are doing takes on a whole different tone during a global pandemic. In the past year, I’ve interviewed a number of artists who have had COVID-19, including Smokey Robinson, Emily Saliers of the Indigo Girls and Tom Johnston of the Doobie Brothers, who told me that several other members of the Doobies also contracted COVID. So, how are you doing in the midst of this pandemic and how has it impacted your shows?
A: I’ve been very lucky. Nobody in my band has had COVID. I’m not a germaphobe, but I always wash my hands and I am really careful. I’m a big hugger and, nowadays, I hug with a mask (on). It’s horrible, if you want my opinion. It (expletive) stinks, and I hate to (tell) my fans: “Make sure you’re vaxxed and wear a mask,” but there is no choice.
Either I say: “Okay, I won’t play (concerts) until this pandemic has gone away”; or: “If we’re going to do it, we have to do what we have to do to be safe.” I’m the most positive guy in the world, and this (pandemic) is so disheartening. Everyone tells me I should do a public service message (promoting COVID safety measures).
And I say: “I don’t want to be school teacher or principal; you tell them.” I’d rather just say: “I’m playing a show, and here are the rules.” I know that all the (safety measures) are starting to wear thin, but it’s even worse when you get sick.
Q: In 1990, I interviewed you here in San Diego about your then-new Red Rocker Hyper-Active Wear line, which followed your Red Rocker Mountain Bike line. Now, you have your new canned cocktail line and you’ve had a lot of businesses in between, including your Sammy’s Beach Bar & Grill restaurant chain at airports, whose proceeds you donate to charity. When you were sitting in high school in Fontana, did you ever imagine you wanted to be an entrepreneur of any kind?
A: I did not even know the word “entrepreneur.” I don’t like to take inventory and reflect on my life, but you can’t help it at my age. There are so many dreams that I didn’t dream that didn’t come true for a long time. I always thought it would be great to be a rock star. And it’s great be in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and have gold and platinum records, and to go on tour and be rich and famous. But all this other stuff came to me like a message in a bottle that washed up on shore.
It’s like I would think: “This is kind of a good idea,” and I’ve learned how to do it and make it happen. But being an entrepreneur? I had no idea what that meant. I didn’t grow up like that. In my family, we were blue-collar, hard-working people — steel workers, dish washers, cooks. I’m addicted to work, success, good ideas and getting them done.
Van Halen’s legacy of greatness
Q: You’ve had a lot of success over the years, sold millions of records and won various awards. But I’m guessing that being named the first-ever Honorary Tourism Ambassador of Los Cabos and receiving the Los Cabos Medal of Honor was extra special for you. Was it?
A: That is the epitome of the dream I never dreamed. The ceremony was mind-blowing! I cried, my wife cried, my (Cabo Wabo) partner, Jorge Viaña — who still runs it — cried.
There was a full military marching band, playing the Mexican national anthem, and a full ceremony, with he governor, the mayor, the secretary of of state and Baja’s head of tourism. People came from Mexico City and other places.
This was such an honor. I nudged my wife, Kari, and said: “Honey, am I dreaming? Or is this really for me?” There was a big dinner party that night, and it was so cool. I’m older now than most of those government officials who were there. Being honored like that is one of the things I am most proud of in my life.
Q: Eddie Van Halen died in 2020. I’m curious of there are any unreleased recordings you did with the band that could eventually come out?
A: Van Halen didn’t have many songs that were completed that didn’t come out. Maybe there’s some stuff we could add background vocals to or that I could write new lyrics for. But I’m leery about doing that. Because the legacy of Van Halen is so great, and — prior to me joining the band — the legacy is pure greatness: Eddie’s guitar work, the band’s playing, the songs.
Anything left over wasn’t good enough to be on those records. I don’t care what anyone says; putting out (unreleased music) wouldn’t do anything, other than make someone a little money.
But I know Eddie had a ton of of (unreleased) jamming stuff he made on cassette tapes, because that’s how we wrote songs... So, maybe. Who knows what they could put together?
Q: In 1995, you told me: “I’m going to be 48 and I’m proud of it — now.” When you first hit 40 in this business, people say: “Hey, say you’re only 36.” And I thought that was bull. But there was a five-year period in my early 40s where I didn’t tell people how old I was. Now I’m proud of my age. I’m strong and healthy, and I’m doing better shows — 2½ hours long — than I could do in 1973 when I was in Montrose. I’m in shape now and I know how to take care of myself. ... I’m planning on taking it as far as I can.” You are now 74. How much farther do you plan to take it?
A: Oh, man, you’re killing me! These are great questions; you’re making me think. To answer your question, I really don’t know. But I am proud of my age. I’m healthy. I do 50 push ups and 100 crunches each morning. I walk four to five miles every day. I don’t run anymore because my knees are beat up from jumping off stages with a 22-pound Les Paul.
I can still sing every song I ever wrote. I put them in a lower key now, and tune down a whole step, not a half step, which is my advice to anybody with semi-perfect pitch. ... I have good pitch and I know when I’m off. I told somebody recently: “I don’t know how much longer I can do this and still be good.” Because I don’t need money ... it’s not my motivation anymore. It was, when I was young. But now, I’m just motivated by doing cool things that excite me, and music still does that ...
If I couldn’t sing well, I would not do that my fans. Ticket prices are so high that, if I wasn’t good, I wouldn’t do that to people. I will not embarrass myself, or my fans, or family. But, right now, I’m as strong as a horse, man!
Sammy Hagar & Friends
When: Wednesday, Friday and Saturday; March 23, March 25 and March 26
Where: The STRAT Theater, The STRAT Hotel, Casino & SkyPod, Las Vegas
Tickets: $100-$150; VIP packages are $600
Phone: (800) 998-6937
COVID protocols: All ticketholders are subject to restrictions and requirements put in place by venues, teams, or government authorities as it pertains to proof of COVID-19 vaccination, proof of negative COVID-19 test, social distancing, wearing personal protective gear, age restrictions, or similar measures.
