What are dreams made of? For Sammy Hagar, dreams are made of songwriting sessions with Eddie Van Halen.
Hagar shared with Ultimate Classic Rock that he wrote a song titled “Thank You” with his late bandmate in a dream.
Hagar explains, “About two months ago, I had this dream and Eddie came. We were in a room like this, [with] a bunch of people around. It was just like he’d been gone. It was not like he was passed, but he had just been out of my life and we hadn’t seen each other for a while. He’s going, ‘Man, let’s write some music!’ I said, ‘Yeah, f— it, man. Here, let’s go!’”
The Red Rocker says EVH played a riff in the dream that reminded him of one the guitarist played for him around the 2004 Van Halen reunion tour. Then, Sammy and Eddie wrote a song with that riff in the dream. After he woke up, Sammy remembered the song, and then he wrote it down.
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“I told [Circle drummer] Jason [Bonham], ‘I just really don’t know what to say lyrically.’ I’ve got goosebumps, head to toe, [talking about it]. So, I wrote it [about that experience], and we’ll do that song someday, said Hagar. “…Now, that’s going to be an Eddie-influenced song, to the point that I’m going to co-write it with him. I’m going to give him credit, and then maybe we’ll donate the money to charity, whatever.”
Hagar added, “I feel so embarrassed about it because everyone’s going to say, ‘Oh, look at Sammy trying to capitalize on Eddie.’ No, I’m not. You don’t understand. This was a real f—in’ dream, and I told you exactly what happened in it.”
Fans will have to wait a bit for Hagar to record that track with his band The Circle. However, Hagar and The Circle are releasing a new album on September 30 titled Crazy Times. The new LP is currently available for pre-order here.
