How Sammy Hagar Joined Van Halen And Became Friends With Michael Anthony

Michael Anthony on Warner Brothers wanting Van Halen to change their name after David Lee Roth left the band.

“We had everybody – Warner Brothers, our management, our lawyers – going, ‘Oh, my god. David Lee Roth’s gone.’ They thought that that was such a strong identity. Warner Brothers wanted us to change the name of the band. I remember Eddie and Alex [Van Halen], we were at Warner Brothers, and they were yelling, ‘Hey, hey, this is our last name. This is our careers, and we’re Van Halen.'”

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I recently had bass legend Michael Anthony on my Talkin' Rock with Meltdown podcast. It's approaching the 40th anniversary of the album 5150, and they're releasing a deluxe edition on March 27th, a few days after the original's release date, which was March 24th, 1986.

How Sammy Hagar Joined Van Halen

I was curious as to how they got Sammy in the band. "Sammy had, as a solo act, he'd been on a few of the shows for Van Halen, but I never personally met him. I know Eddie did a couple of times." Michael reiterated a story of Eddie and Sammy sharing the same automobile mechanic, Claudio. "Why don't you give Sammy a call?" Claudio asked Eddie, and that's what he did.

Michael said the only reason Sammy came to the studio to try out was to see if all the rumors of how crazy the VH camp were real. "He obviously liked it, because he became part of it," Michael told me.

He had just finished a tour and walked into the studio with his hair shaven off. Michael didn't recognize him at first. "I'm sitting in the control room, and I looked at him, and I'm like, wait...that can't be Sammy Hagar."

He said they had a couple of songs ready in their early stages, Summer Nights and Good Enough. He said they played it for Sammy, then jammed. "You know right away if the sparks there. If it happening, and boy, was it."

Sammy And Michael Clicked Over Cars And The Beach

Sammy and Michael became fast friends and remain that way to this day. He said they connected on a musical level to begin with, then developed their friendship from their shared love of cars to their mutual love of the beach lifestyle. "I only owned about two cars before Sammy joined the band, and much to my wife's dismay, I ended up owning about ten cars."

Listen to the entire interview below.

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https://wrif.com/episodes/the-legendary-michael-anthony-is-on-talkin-rock

Michael Anthony

MeltdownEditor

Meltdown started on the mighty WRIF on the evening of Halloween, 1995. Technically, his first on-air shift was the morning of November 1st. Moving to the Motor City from Buffalo, N.Y., he has built a career and family. Over his almost three-decade stint at RIFF, he's had the privilege to work with some of the biggest personalities in Detroit radio history. He boasts of being just the second-afternoon drive jock in the station's illustrious 53-year history. Along with his love for rock music and attending concerts, he's also an avid Harley-Davidson enthusiast and hockey player. He plays year-round and manages to squeeze in a few charity games throughout the year. Meltdown writes about the Detroit Red Wings, rock music, and Detroit concert venues.