Happy birthday to the Red Rocker! Sammy Hagar turns 79 today, October 13, 2026, and we’re celebrating by looking back at a conversation between the legendary rocker and WMMR’s own legend Pierre Robert on June 25, 2025.
When Pierre gets the chance to talk with an artist he has admired for decades, you know the conversation is going to go beyond the usual questions. This interview was a trip through rock history, beginning with Pierre’s memories of seeing Hagar perform with Montrose in the Bay Area and eventually getting into Hagar’s years with Van Halen, his friendship with Eddie Van Halen, and the emotional inspiration behind his song honoring his late bandmate.
Pierre Takes It Back to the Montrose Days
Before becoming one of rock’s most recognizable voices, Sammy Hagar was making a name for himself as the frontman of Montrose. Pierre remembers those early days well. Growing up in California, he and his buddy Jimmy would pile into a big white Dodge van with a powerful stereo and crank Montrose’s debut album, playing air guitar to classics like “Rock the Nation,” “Bad Motor Scooter,” and “Rock Candy.”
When they discovered that Montrose was coming to Winterland, they knew they had to be there.
Pierre even remembered Hagar’s red microphone and microphone stand from those early performances. Sammy explained that he initially had a red stand before upgrading to a gold-plated one after the band landed a record deal. There was just one problem: gold plating didn’t reflect the stage lights the way he had imagined.
Hagar eventually came up with a creative solution, attaching a small makeup mirror to the bottom of the stand so he could reflect the spotlight out toward the audience.
That microphone stand also became part of a classic rock-and-roll mishap. Hagar recalled accidentally striking bassist Bill Church in the head with it during the opening of “Space Station No. 5,” knocking him out cold while the band kept playing. Even with Bill Graham rushing over to help, the show went on. As Sammy told Pierre, those were the good old days, and he wouldn’t trade them for anything.
Before Montrose, There Were Other Possibilities
The conversation also uncovered a fascinating bit of Hagar history. Pierre brought up Crossfire, a Bay Area band he remembered from his younger days. The group featured talented musicians, including Gary Pihl, who would later work with Boston, and even had Norman Greenbaum singing with them for a time.
Hagar revealed that Crossfire had actually tried to recruit him before he joined Montrose. Another band, Thunderstick, was interested in him, too. Sammy auditioned for both but ultimately chose the path that led him to Montrose, bringing drummer Denny Carmassi into the picture along the way.
As Hagar joked, tracing his career all the way back to those early days could take five days. Pierre had to keep things moving, but the trip down memory lane offered a glimpse at just how much history the two shared.
Sammy Hagar Reflects on Eddie Van Halen
One of the most meaningful parts of the interview centered on Eddie Van Halen and the song Hagar created in his honor. The song is entitled “Encore. Thank You. Goodnight”. Pierre praised the track as a love letter to Eddie, especially its use of a crowd chanting the guitarist’s name.
Hagar explained that the chant came from Van Halen’s final show in Hawaii with him in 1995, following the band’s return from Japan. Hearing that moment incorporated into the song helped connect the music to a real memory shared by the band and its fans.
Sammy also described a dream in which he and Eddie were together again, writing music as if nothing bad had ever happened between them. In that dream, Eddie was still alive, and the two could simply enjoy making music together.
For Hagar, that feeling captured something important about the song. Rather than dwelling on the difficult parts of their history, it was a chance to celebrate the friendship, the music, and the good times they shared.
He remembered the close bond between himself, Eddie, Valerie Bertinelli, and his wife Kari, describing the experience as having the time of their lives. Although Van Halen was a four-person musical force, Hagar noted that he and Eddie didn’t always get as much time together as people might imagine, aside from the times they spent together away from the stage.
Pierre also asked about the audience’s reaction when Hagar performed the song live for the first time. Sammy described the response as an immediate case of goosebumps, a powerful reminder of the connection fans continue to feel with Eddie and the band’s music.
A Career Still Full of Stories
The interview also touched on Hagar’s Las Vegas residency, where the set list changed from night to night and gave him the opportunity to revisit different parts of his catalog. Pierre praised the variety of songs and the energy between Sammy and the audience, while discussing the appeal of a residency compared with constant touring.
From Montrose memories and backstage mishaps to Van Halen stories and the enduring legacy of Eddie Van Halen, Pierre’s conversation with Sammy Hagar was a reminder that rock history is best told by the people who lived it.
Today, as Sammy celebrates his 79th birthday, we’re raising a toast to the Red Rocker and a career that has given rock fans generations of unforgettable music and stories. Happy birthday, Sammy!
