SAMMY HAGAR And MICHAEL ANTHONY Love Playing To Young Fans At Their Shows: 'Seeing Some 14-Year-Old Kid And His Dad, That Makes Me So Happy'

In a new interview with FOX 32 Chicago, Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony spoke about their "The Best Of All Worlds" Las Vegas residency, which will return to Dolby Live at Park MGM for 11 performances March 11-21 and September 18-26, 2026. The 2026 residency will reunite Hagar with the powerhouse "Best Of All Worlds" band featuring fellow Hall Of Famer Anthony, 15-time Grammy nominee and guitar virtuoso Joe Satriani, powerhouse drummer Kenny Aronoff, and multi-instrumentalist Rai Thistlethwayte. The high-octane "only in Las Vegas" show is celebration of Hagar's legendary catalog, including the deepest dive yet into his tenure with VAN HALEN yet.

Asked about the ages of fans who come to see them perform during the "The Best Of All Worlds" residency, Michael said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): " My gosh, we're seeing a mix of everybody now. If you would've asked us this 15 years ago, it's, like, 'Yeah, you see our fans now, and they're there with their kids on their shoulders at the shows,' and now it's kind of like you're almost seeing the grandchildren there too now. It's great that they love the music and they wanna turn it on to their kids and their kids' kids."

Added Sammy: "Yeah. I've seen a lot of teenagers in the front row nowadays. You see a lot of guitar players and drummers and bass players, singers, young musicians in their late teens, mid-teens that wanna see the legends. And I'm not bragging about being a legend, but they wanna see the guys that their parents grew up on and that they've listened to growing up their whole life, 'cause their parents are playing VAN HALEN or LED ZEPPELIN in the house. And they wanna go see these guys while they're still alive. And I think it's awesome. It makes me feel energized to see young people there like that, and especially when they're hanging with their pop. Seeing some 14-year-old kid and his dad, that makes me so happy. I mean, my dad would never go to a concert with me. [Laughs] So it's a new generation out there. It's beautiful."

Asked if there is anything different today about how Hagar's and VAN HALEN's classic songs resonate to not only them, but maybe to the people that they are singing to, Michael said: "I'll tell you right off the bat, just loving to play music, that is a testament right there to how long that we've been here doing this and we still love doing it. Like Sammy says, it's great being able to play a residency because you're not moving around. As far as him being a singer, obviously, it's better on his voice not traveling or whatever. But, man, I love playing all the early stuff we've done just as much now as I loved playing it back then. And if you truly love playing the music, and plus the audience gets you all energized every night too, it's a pleasure to play every night. It's great. It's fun."

Added Sammy: "The thing for me is, being a songwriter or a lyricist, these songs that stood the test of time, a song like 'Right Now', the VAN HALEN song 'Right Now', I remember writing those lyrics, and it was something I was going through in my life about I was feeling like I was always too anxious, always trying to get ahead of myself and worried about something I had already done. And I came up with the idea just right now is what all that really matters. And when I sing that song today, and songs like that, it brings you back to how you felt at that time in your life, in your forties and stuff. And that's a wonderful feeling. Once again, it re-energizes you on stage. I'm sitting there singing this, going, 'Yeah, I really still mean this today. And it means something.' And the same with 'I Can't Drive 55'. I still mean it today. [Laughs]"

Last October, Hagar released "Sammy Hagar & The Best Of All Worlds Band - The Residency", a 19-track live album recorded during his first Dolby Live run, via Big Machine Rock. The album captures rare deep cuts and VAN HALEN favorites.

Custom-built for Dolby Live's intimate and electric atmosphere, "The Best Of All Worlds" delivers an unfiltered connection to the music that defined a generation. With fresh setlists each night, Hagar dusts off VAN HALEN deep cuts, solo anthems, and fan favorites not heard live in decades. The residency was a critical and box office hit, with fans and media alike calling it one of the strongest rock residencies in Las Vegas history.

VAN HALEN and Anthony had not been on good terms for more than a decade before Eddie Van Halen's death, with Anthony not invited to join the reunion with singer David Lee Roth that began in 2007. The subsequent two tours and studio album, "A Different Kind Of Truth", featured Eddie's son Wolfgang Van Halen on bass.

Anthony took a pay cut and signed away all of his rights to the band name and logo in order to participate in VAN HALEN's 2004 tour, which featured Hagar.