Sam Roy Hagar (born October 13, 1947), also known as The Red Rocker,
is an American guitarist-singer-songwriter and entrepreneur. Hagar
came to prominence in the 1970s with the hard rock band Montrose. He
then launched a successful solo career, scoring an enduring hit in
1984 with "I Can't Drive 55". He enjoyed commercial success when he
replaced David Lee Roth as the lead singer of Van Halen in 1985, but
left in 1996. He returned to the band for a two-year reunion from 2003
to 2005. On March 12, 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 The Circle. Hagar also is the host of
Rock & Roll Road Trip with Sammy Hagar on Mark Cuban's cable network
AXS TV.Sam Roy Hagar was born to Bobby and Gladys Hagar in Salinas,
California and was named after his maternal grandfather. 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 2. "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.When he was only four years old,
Hagar earned seventy cents a day picking raspberries to pay for a pair
of shoes for school. Growing up, he would pick fruit, deliver
newspapers, and mow lawns to earn money. Hagar excelled academically
and discovered music while in high school, teaching himself to play
guitar on a $40 instrument purchased from a Sears catalog. He fronted
his first band, the Fabulous Castilles, when he was 14 years old. At
age 17, Hagar went to San Bernardino and sneaked in to see the 1964
U.S. debut of the Rolling Stones at the Swing Auditorium. He also
regularly attended concerts by surf guitarist Dick Dale at the
Riverside National Guard Armory.
is an American guitarist-singer-songwriter and entrepreneur. Hagar
came to prominence in the 1970s with the hard rock band Montrose. He
then launched a successful solo career, scoring an enduring hit in
1984 with "I Can't Drive 55". He enjoyed commercial success when he
replaced David Lee Roth as the lead singer of Van Halen in 1985, but
left in 1996. He returned to the band for a two-year reunion from 2003
to 2005. On March 12, 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 The Circle. Hagar also is the host of
Rock & Roll Road Trip with Sammy Hagar on Mark Cuban's cable network
AXS TV.Sam Roy Hagar was born to Bobby and Gladys Hagar in Salinas,
California and was named after his maternal grandfather. 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 2. "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.When he was only four years old,
Hagar earned seventy cents a day picking raspberries to pay for a pair
of shoes for school. Growing up, he would pick fruit, deliver
newspapers, and mow lawns to earn money. Hagar excelled academically
and discovered music while in high school, teaching himself to play
guitar on a $40 instrument purchased from a Sears catalog. He fronted
his first band, the Fabulous Castilles, when he was 14 years old. At
age 17, Hagar went to San Bernardino and sneaked in to see the 1964
U.S. debut of the Rolling Stones at the Swing Auditorium. He also
regularly attended concerts by surf guitarist Dick Dale at the
Riverside National Guard Armory.
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