Sammy Hagar paid a visit to SiriusXM’s The Howard Stern Show on Tuesday, November 14, to announce plans for his Best of All Worlds Tour, a summer 2024 trek that will put an emphasis on the Van Halen catalog.
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Hagar was joined by his tour mates, founding Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony, guitar virtuoso Joe Satriani, and drummer Jason Bonham. During the appearance, the Red Rocker extended an invitation to original Van Halen singer David Lee Roth and drummer Alex Van Halen to make guest appearances on the trek.
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“If Alex Van Halen wants to jump out… If David Lee Roth wants to come out and join us, come on, motherfucker! You are welcome,” Hagar declared, noting that the tour is a celebration of the Van Halen catalog and of late guitarist Eddie Van Halen.
Hagar also explained that he’s hoping other guest guitar players and singers will hit the stage with them at various shows.
“[W]e’re gonna invite every musician in every town,” he noted. “First of all, whenever you play, if there’s a guitar player in town, no matter what city it is, they come out to see Joe [Satriani], just like they used to for Eddie. So [we’ll get] other guitar players … involved, you know, other singers, get ’em involved.”
Host Howard Stern then asked Hagar if he really thought the notoriously reclusive Alex Van Halen might make an appearance at any of his shows, to which the Red Rocker answered, “I would hope so,” while admitting that he hadn’t talked to the drummer in quite a while.
“I reach out to Al about once a month for about five years now and he doesn’t get back to me,” Hagar revealed. “I call, I leave a voice message, I send a text, and I send email, all three things. ‘Al, give me a call.’”
He then explained, “Al’s favorite line to me was always, every time he wanted to get back together, he would say, ‘You know, Sam, we ain’t getting any younger.’ So I’d say, ‘Hey Al, we ain’t getting any younger. Give me a call … Let me know … what do you want to do? Come on over. Let’s get together … Mike and I [will] meet you somewhere.’”
Hagar also noted that the tour would feature many Van Halen songs from his time with the band that he hadn’t performed live for many years, as well as classics from the group’s Roth era, plus a selection of tunes from his solo career. Satriani, of course, was a member of the Hagar-fronted supergroup Chickenfoot, along with Anthony and Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith, so the trek also will feature material from that band.
Bonham, meanwhile, has been playing with Anthony in Hagar’s recent backing group, The Circle.
In a press statement announcing details of the tour, Hagar explained that one of the inspirations for the trek was the recently released Van Halen compilation The Collection II, which includes remastered versions of the four VH albums featuring Hagar—5150 (1986), OU812 (1988), For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge (1991), and Balance (1995)—plus a rarities disc.
“It’s crazy to think that it’ll be 20 years since Mikey and I played these songs with Van Halen on the ’04 Best of Both Worlds Tour,” he noted. “With Joe on board, we can take a deeper dive into those years … The music we created is going to outlive us all. [Those songs] deserve to be heard so it’s time we go out and serve the fans that music, while we still can.”
The Best of All Worlds Tour kicks off July 13 in West Palm Beach, Florida, and is scheduled through an August 31 concert in St. Louis. Loverboy will be the opening act throughout the trek. Tickets are available via StubHub, where orders are 100% guaranteed through StubHub’s FanProtect program. StubHub is a secondary market ticketing platform, and prices may be higher or lower than face value, depending on demand.
Rock the night away! Sammy Hagar Tour 2024 is coming to town. Snag your tickets now and be part of the ultimate rock experience!
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