Sammy Hagar recently posted a hilarious throwback photo on his Instagram page capturing an onstage prank during a 1990s Van Halen show involving that tour’s opening act, Alice in Chains. In the pic, Alice in Chains’ Layne Staley, Jerry Cantrell, and Sean Sweeney are seen marching across the stage wearing only skimpy women’s panties.
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Marching in front of the grunge rockers are a fully clad Hagar and VH bassist Michael Anthony, as Eddie Van Halen looks on, laughing.
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“In VH I think we might have had more fun with @AliceInChains on tour than any band that toured with us,” Hagar wrote in a note accompanying the photo. “I believe this was in Seattle, probably the last show of the leg but whatever, this kind of s**t went on every night.”
He added, “I sincerely miss Layne Staley, soulful vocals and Jerry [Cantrell] & I have remained very close friends. Absolutely love these guys!” Sadly, Staley died in 2002 of a drug overdose. He was 34.
Michael Anthony Comments on the Photo
The Instagram post drew a comment from Anthony himself, who wrote, “Hahahaha, last year of the tour, they surprised us on stage with that one!!! love those guys, what a great tour it was…😂😂😂❤️🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥”
Jerry Cantrell Recalls the Prank
In a 2013 interview posted on the Van Halen News Desk fan site, Cantrell recalled the incident captured in the photo.
“Van Halen used to do this signature walk across the stage, and at the time they had these skimpy panties that they would sell to the chicks in the audience,” Cantrell shared. “So we took some of these panties and put them on … and put on some combat boots, and we made ourselves up as strippers. [We] did that Van Halen signature walk across the stage behind them, and they didn’t know it was happening, except for [drummer] Alex [Van Halen].”
He added, “There’s a great photo of it, taken right as Eddie turns around and realizes what’s going on, and he’s totally losing it. He’s one of those guys who never f**ks up. … [H]earing him miss a couple notes while getting a laugh out of us was great.”
Cantrell also noted that their prank was in response to a series of practical jokes Van Halen played on his band while Alice in Chains was opening for VH.
Sammy Hagar’s 2024 Tour
As previously reported, Hagar will be paying tribute to Van Halen on his 2024 The Best of All Worlds Tour. The Red Rocker will be joined by Anthony, guitarist Joe Satriani, and drummer Jason Bonham on the trek. Loverboy will open the shows.
The outing is scheduled to kick off July 13 in West Palm Beach, Florida, and conclude on August 31 in St. Louis. You can check out all of the dates at RedRocker.com.
As Hagar has explained in multiple interviews, the tour will feature him digging deeper into the Van Halen than he has since he parted ways with the group in 2005.
Tickets for the shows are available now via various outlets, including StubHub. At StubHub, orders are 100% guaranteed through the site’s FanProtect program. StubHub is a secondary market ticketing platform, and prices may be higher or lower than face value, depending on demand.
