In a recent interview on AZCentral.com, Sammy Hagar delved into his forthcoming summer 2024 tour alongside bassist Michael Anthony, guitarist Joe Satriani, and drummer Jason Bonham, which will primarily highlight the music of VAN HALEN.
He said: “Well, Michael Anthony and I, you know, we’ve been doing this [SAMMY HAGAR AND THE] CIRCLE thing. We play about an hour of VAN HALEN and we play about 45 minutes to an hour of my stuff, MONTROSE and everything.
“We’re gonna kind of just really go heavy on VAN HALEN. Play four or five of Sammy‘s greatest hits. You know, ‘One Way To Rock’, ‘Heavy Metal’, ‘I Can’t Drive 55’, ‘Mas Tequila’, songs you’ve gotta play. One MONTROSE, a CHICKENFOOT and a whole lot of VAN HALEN, the whole catalog.
Sammy continued: “I mean, we’re gonna go back into the early years for three or four songs, sprinkle ’em in there, because I’m calling it not just ‘The Best Of All Worlds Tour’, I’m calling it the ‘Thank You’ tour. For me it’s thank you. Thank you, Eddie [Van Halen]. Thank you to the fans. Thank you for this wonderful life, being able to do this, because I don’t know how much longer I can do it.
“Mike and I, 20 years ago, did a reunion. And it’s been 20 years this year. I’m going, I don’t have another 20 years to be waiting on Alex Van Halen, who’s the only guy left. So he didn’t want to do it? You know, he, I guess, just doesn’t like playing without his brother. Don’t blame him. God bless him. So I’m saying, ‘I’m getting Joe Satriani, Michael Anthony and Jason Bonham, who his dad was Alex‘s hero.’ Jason plays just like his dad. So it’s pretty much the music is gonna be served as good as it can be served today.”
The “The Best Of All Worlds” tour is set to take place over two years after Satriani disclosed that he was invited to join a VAN HALEN tribute event with David Lee Roth and Alex Van Halen. However, the project reportedly stalled due to Roth‘s delays in obtaining approvals for the endeavor.
The tour, scheduled to begin in July 2024, will cover 28 cities in the US and Canada, aiming to delve deep into the VAN HALEN catalog, celebrating both Hagar‘s and Roth‘s eras in the band. Hagar emphasized his hope for Alex Van Halen‘s participation despite previous unsuccessful attempts to contact him.
“We’re gonna go deep into the VAN HALEN catalog,” Hagar previously told “The Howard Stern Show”. “If you’re gonna go deep into the VAN HALEN catalog, you need Joe Satriani.”
“It’s time. Nobody else is gonna do it,” Sammy stated about performing songs from different eras of VAN HALEN during a recent appearance on “The Howard Stern Show.” “If Dave [Lee Roth] goes out, he can’t sing my stuff. [But] we can do a few of the early VAN HALEN songs. I have no problem with that; I did it when I was in VAN HALEN. This is really a celebration of all that, and we are the only ones who can do it.”
“We’re gonna invite every musician in every town,” he continued. “First of all, whenever you play, if there’s a guitar player in town, no matter what city it is, they come out to see Joe, just like they used to for Eddie [Van Halen]. So if we’ve got other guitar players, we’ll get them involved, other singers, get them involved. If [VAN HALEN drummer] Alex Van Halen wants to jump up, if David Lee Roth wants to come out and join us, come on, motherf**ker. You are welcome. This is about VAN HALEN.”
When asked about the likelihood of Alex Van Halen participating in the tour and potentially joining in the commemoration of his brother,” Sammy responded: “I would hope so. I reach out to Al about once a month for about five years now, and he doesn’t get back to me… I call, I leave a voice message, I send a text and I send an e-mail. All three things. ‘Al, give me a call.’ Al‘s favorite line to me was always, every time he wanted to get back together, he would say, ‘You know, Sam, we ain’t getting any younger.’ So I’d say, ‘Hey, Al, we ain’t getting any younger. Give me a call. Let me know. What do you wanna do? Come on over. Let’s get together. Mike and I’ll meet you somewhere.’”
