Sammy Hagar Wiki, Biography
Sammy Hagar (born October 13, 1947), also known as the Red Rocker, is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He rose to prominence in the early 1970s with the hard rock band Montrose and subsequently launched a successful solo career, scoring a hit in 1984 with “I Can’t Drive 55”. He enjoyed commercial success when he replaced David Lee Roth as the second lead vocalist of Van Halen in 1985, but left in 1996. He returned to the band from 2003 to 2005. In 2007, Hagar was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Van Halen. His musical style primarily consists of hard rock and heavy metal.
Also a businessman, Hagar founded the Cabo Wabo tequila brand and restaurant chain, as well as Sammy’s Beach Bar rum. His current musical projects include being the lead singer of Chickenfoot and Sammy Hagar and the Circle. Hagar also is the host of Rock & Roll Road Trip with Sammy Hagar on AXS TV.
Sam Roy Hagar was born to Bobby and Gladys Hagar in Salinas, California, and was named after his maternal grandfather, Sam Roy Baio. Hagar’s family worked in the lettuce fields and he lived with his parents and three siblings in a labor camp until moving south to Fontana, California. There, his father Bobby had landed a job at the Kaiser Steel Mill, working in the open hearth.
Bobby Hagar was an alcoholic boxer who held a record for being knocked down 20 times in a single fight. Friends said he was “mentally damaged” upon returning home from fighting in World War II. “My father was the town drunk,” said Hagar, who described his father as “a complete alcoholic and madman” who was abusive towards his wife and children. Hagar’s mother would occasionally take the children to a nearby orange grove to sleep in the car when their father became too violent.
The Hagar family moved frequently, as Bobby had a habit of spending the rent money on alcohol; Hagar recalls living in nine different homes in Fontana while growing up. When Hagar was ten years old, his mother Gladys took the children and left Bobby for good.
Hagar married his first wife, Betsy Berardi, on November 3, 1968. They have two sons, Aaron (born in 1970) and Andrew (born in 1984). In 1994, the couple divorced after 26 years of marriage. He married his current wife, Kari Hagar, on November 29, 1995, and together they have two daughters, Kama (born in April 1996) and Samantha (born in March 2001).
He is the cousin of Christian metal singer Ken Tamplin, who is best known for his work with Joshua, Shout and Magdallan in addition to his solo career.
He is a long-time Ferrari enthusiast and owns a 2008 Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano F1. He still owns the 1982 Ferrari 512BB made famous in his “I Can’t Drive 55” music video.
In March 2011, Hagar released an autobiography entitled Red: My Uncensored Life in Rock, written with the assistance of rock critic Joel Selvin. On April 3, 2011, it reached No. 1 on the New York Times Best Seller list of hardcover nonfiction.
During an interview with the American Rock Scene, Hagar announced the forthcoming paperback version of Red would include an additional chapter, stating that he “didn’t want to release the same book again.”
In September 2015, Hagar released the cookbook Are We Having Any Fun Yet? – The Cooking & Partying Handbook. The book contains food and drink recipes, along with pictures and stories of Hagar’s cooking memories.
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