by Andy Greene



Sammy Hagar called into Rolling Stone the other week to chat about his contribution to The Art of McCartney, a 42-track collection of Paul McCartney covers by Bob Dylan, Brian Wilson, the Cure, Kiss and many other huge names. Hagar sings “Birthday,” and is still a little shocked he was asked to participate in the first place. But when Sammy Hagar is on the phone, it’s impossible to stick to a single topic. The Red Rocker remains one of the funniest and most unfiltered men in rock, especially when the inevitable subject of Van Halen, and the extremely slim possibility of a reunion, comes up.

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How were you approached about singing “Birthday” on this McCartney tribute album?

The guy that was producing the thing asked me. I’ve thrown a birthday party in Cabo every year for 25 years, so I’m pretty much a birthday celebration guy. “Birthday” is a good screamer and a nice fit for my voice, and the guitar riff is really nice.

So you think they just picked you for it because you’re seen as a party guy?

I was hoping they’d thought of me as an artist, but they probably did pick me because of that. If I had my choice of songs I would have went with “Let Me Roll It” or “Maybe I’m Amazed,” one of those songs were Paul gets up in that upper register and really screams.

Still, it’s a cool honor to be on the same collection as Bob Dylan, Brian Wilson and all those other people.

When they came to me I didn’t even know who was going to be on it, though that was my first question. You get bamboozled a lot in this business. People have an idea, get you to do it and then say to other people, “Well, Sammy Hagar did it.” I didn’t know if their plan was to bamboozle other people. But now that I see everyone else on there, I’m actually shocked they asked me.

Why’s that?

I like to degrade myself a little but so nobody thinks I’m a guy with a big head. But it’s just really cool to be on with some of those people.

To switch gears here, I know you’ve played some shows with Jason Bonham on drums where you do a bunch of Zeppelin and Van Halen songs. Are more of those coming?

Absolutely. As far as I’m concerned, that’s my new house band. It’s me, Jason Bonham, Michael Anthony and Vic Johnson. We call ourselves the Circle because this band has kinda taken me full circle in my career. I can play from every era, from Montrose to Van Halen to solo, Chickenfoot and some Led Zeppelin. In Chickenfoot, we didn’t play songs by the Chili Peppers or Van Halen, but the Circle plays my whole world and everyone else’s world that’s in the band. It’s been really special so far.

Are you taking it back on the road soon?

Well, I don’t go on the road very much now. I’m old! I would, however, love to do some big festivals. But to go out and do 100 shows or something? I don’t think my body and my voice could take it. I credit myself with having somewhat of a preserved voice. I can still sing all these songs, but if I tried to 100 shows a year that would probably be my last one. I’d rather stretch it out and do 20 shows a year and do that for another five or six years.

That group would be amazing at Bonnaroo. Might that happen?

I would never go anywhere I wasn’t asked! You gotta give those guys a call and say, “You should get Sammy and the Circle.” I’d love to play there. We would kill at a festival like that.

Are you going to make another Chickenfoot record?

Joe [Satriani] is my favorite writer to work with since Eddie [Van Halen.] I’d rather write a record with him than anyone else, but I don’t see any reason to make a new record. Going through the whole experience with a record label, and then going out and doing 150 interviews, a big tour and waking up at 4:00 a.m. to go on Howard Stern all to sell 35,000 CDs…It starts to feel like, “Hmmmm. Is this pay for play?”

I mean, I love making music. But doing it on Chickenfoot’s level means spending a half million on a record. We write and record for six months. It’s a lot of work, and then to not sell many records. It’s disappointing. I don’t like being disappointed. I like winning.

Do you mind the fact that no matter what you’ve done with your life, you’ll forever be known as “Former Van Halen Singer Sammy Hagar?”

No. Man, if you put that whole Van Hagar catalog together and listen to the body of work it’s incredible, especially the highlights like “When It’s Love,” “Why Can’t This Be Love,” “Right Now,” “Dreams.” I’m honored to be a part of that. I’m sorry about the bad blood, but I’m totally honored. That’s the peak of my freakin’ musical career, no doubt about it. I was a platinum artist before that, but we became multi multiplatinum artists. I mean, I’ve only been on the cover of Rolling Stone as a member of Van Halen.