Sammy Hagar Reveals Why His Favorite Van Halen Song Pissed Him off at First Listen

Formed during the 1970s in California, Van Halen not only showcased their talents on stage but also led hard rock to the forefront of music. For nearly 50 years, the band welcomed members like Gary Cherone, Wolfgang Van Halen, Mark Stone, and Sammy Hagar to the lineup. Throughout their time in the spotlight, the band released 12 studio albums and helmed over a dozen tours. And while knowing the band went through some growing pains over the years, Hagar recently discussed the Best of All Worlds tour and how he wanted this tour to be a “Thank You” to all those who supported the group over the years. 

Having spent numerous years with Van Halen, Hagar knows the importance of the band’s discography. When looking over his history in music, the singer explained to Ultimate Classic Rock how he wanted to make a statement at the start of his time with the band. “When I joined Van Halen, I was trying to make a statement. Hey, listen, this is a new band, we wrote new material — and to get rid of that comparison thing, I didn’t want to……look, it wasn’t just me. This was Ed, Al, Mike, this was a unanimous vote. Nobody wanted to continue on with the old stuff. It was like, “S**t, we’re tired of playing that, man. Let’s play the new songs.”

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Sammy Hagar Names His Favorite Van Halen Song

Wanting to celebrate Van Halen and his own legacy in music, Hagar added, “It’s such a whole different thing. I’m not trying to make any kind of a statement, I’m just trying to play for the fans. This is for the people. This is the ‘thank you’ tour, for all of the fans who followed us for all of those years and have been waiting 20 years for some other kind of a reunion — my era, anyway, for sure.”

With such a rich history with Van Halen, Hagar also discussed his favorite song, which happened to be “Panama.” “I love ‘Panama.’ That’s a bad ass tune. The first time I heard ‘Panama,’ it pissed me off. That’s how good it is. That’s the way we’re approaching it, by doing the songs that I really enjoy singing. I was watching a live Van Halen clip the other day, from ‘95. We were doing ‘Panama’ and it was frickin’ great.”

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