Sammy Hagar says he’s a “really easy guy to work with” and doesn’t “have an ego when it comes to music”
The vocalist also says he’s a far better musician when he’s working with other people.
Sammy Hagar performs during the 2024 CMT Music Awards at Moody Center on April 07, 2024 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Taylor Hill/WireImage)
Sammy Hagar has insisted he’s a “really easy guy to work with” and doesn’t “have an ego when it comes to music”.
The Van Halen vocalist has also said he believes that he’s a better writer when he’s collaborating with others and as such his ego comes second.
“Not to beat my chest or anything, but I’m a real easy guy to work with,” he tells Variety. “I really don’t have an ego when it comes to music. I’m always better with other people, I’ll be the first to admit. I personally know that when I write songs with Eddie [Van Halen] or Joe [Satriani], they were better than what I could do myself.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Hagar discusses his relationship to the business world and why he has preferred to start initiatives that involve him creating something, such as making tequila or his nightclub and restaurant Cabo Wabo. . Despite the fact that he “used to get so much shit” from his bandmates, he feels “rappers kind of made it okay”.
“The important thing for me is that I don’t endorse anything,” he says. “Endorsements are still cheesy as fuck, I don’t care what anyone says. So I was careful not to endorse: instead, I started companies.
“I built Cabo Wabo. I went down to Jalisco and met with farmers when I started making tequila. I had to do everything and I had a blast. It was awesome. That’s the whole difference between what I do and what other people do: I build the company, I create the thing.”
Meanwhile, Hagar recently named the Van Halen track Right Now as their equivalent of Stairway to Heaven, at least in terms of their success despite never becoming Number One singles.
“The funny thing about Right Now is it’s like one of those songs like Stairway to Heaven for Led Zeppelin,” he says. “Stairway to Heaven wasn’t, like, a Number One single or anything. It wasn’t even really a single. It was just an AOR (album-oriented rock) track played on the radio.
“But it becomes one of their biggest [songs]. I believe it peaked in the 20s – the video got great awards and won three MTV music awards and all that. But the song itself wasn’t a giant radio hit or anything.”