Sammy Hagar Opens Up About Playing Van Halen Songs During Upcoming Tour

When Sammy Hagar announced his "Best of All Worlds" tour late last year, he said that he planned to honor his Van Halen era in the set. Now, the Red Rocker's opening up about how he plans to do that.

“We’re gonna kind of just really go heavy on Van Halen,” Hagar told Arizona Republic in a new interview. “Play four or five of Sammy’s greatest hits. You know, ‘One Way to Rock,’ ‘Heavy Metal,’ ‘I Can’t Drive 55,’ ‘Mas Tequila,’ songs you’ve gotta play. One Montrose, a Chickenfoot, and a whole lot of Van Halen, the whole catalog.”

He went on to explain how he plans to honor fans and the late Eddie Van Halen on tour. “I mean, we’re gonna go back into the early years for three or four songs, sprinkle ’em in there, because I’m calling it not just the Best of All Worlds Tour, I’m calling it the Thank You Tour,” he continued. “For me it’s thank you. Thank you, Eddie. Thank you to the fans. Thank you for this wonderful life, being able to do this, because I don’t know how much longer I can do it.”

Hagar will be backed by Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony, as well as guitarist Joe Satriani and drummer Jason Bonham. “Mike and I, 20 years ago, did a reunion,” Hagar explained. “And it’s been 20 years this year. I’m going, I don’t have another 20 years to be waiting on Alex Van Halen, who’s the only guy left. So he didn’t want to do it? You know, he, I guess, just doesn’t like playing without his brother. Don’t blame him. God bless him.”

Hagar also invited David Lee Roth to perform with them on select dates, but from the sound of Diamond Dave's recent words about his Van Halen successor it doesn't look like that will be happening.