Sammy Hagar claims he rejected opportunities to front Led Zeppelin, Grateful Dead and Aerosmith
Former Van Halen singer Sammy Hagar has claimed that he rejected discussions regarding potentially fronting Led Zeppelin, Grateful Dead and Aerosmith.
Hagar first established himself as an important figure in the rock scene with his first band Montrose before launching a solo career, and eventually replacing David Lee Roth in Van Halen.
Since his first departure from Van Halen in 1996, Hagar has now revealed that he has had plentiful opportunities to front other iconic rock groups, but has refrained from doing so because he doesn’t want to be pigeon-holed into a box.
He told NME in response to a question about him turning down the opportunity to join Velvet Revolver, “Every damn band you’ve ever heard of has tried to get me in at some point! Even when Steven Tyler went off the rails and fell off the stage in 2009.”
Hagar shared that Aerosmith’s Joe Perry and the band’s manager contacted him to temporarily replace Tyler for a tour of South America and the US. While he considered the offer, Hagar came to the realisation, “Then I thought, ‘Am I fucking crazy? I ain’t going to try and replace a guy like Steven Tyler’.”
The vocalist then revealed he was also under consideration to replace Robert Plant in Led Zeppelin, saying, “When Robert Plant and Jimmy Page weren’t getting on, people in the industry were trying to get me to front Led Zep – who are one of my favourite bands in the world, but I wouldn’t be caught dead trying to replace Robert Plant!”
He also named Anthrax as another band that have tried to recruit him and said that he and Bob Weir have “talked a million times about me being in” Grateful Dead.
Hagar then explained why replacing another singer after joining Van Halen was never on his agenda, stating, “If I did it again, it would change my whole legacy. I’d be the guy who replaced two singers, instead of Sammy Hagar. I’m happy with the career path I’ve taken. Getting kicked out of Montrose [in 1975] was the best thing that ever happened to me, and getting kicked out of Van Halen [in 1996] was the second best thing. I wouldn’t change anything.”
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