SAMMY HAGAR & THE CIRCLE To Release New Album 'Crazy Times': 'It's The Best Record I Ever Made In My Life'

SAMMY HAGAR & THE CIRCLE will release a new studio album titled "Crazy Times" later in the year.

Hagar and his bandmates — drummer Jason Bonham, bassist Michael Anthony and guitarist Vic Johnson — recorded the effort with Grammy Award-winning producer Dave Cobb, who has previously worked with RIVAL SONS and SLASH FEATURING MYLES KENNEDY AND THE CONSPIRATORS, among others.

Sammy spoke about the new CIRCLE album during a chat with Forbes. He said: "We're gonna have a new record coming out in the next couple of months. We're gonna release the first single. We made a record called 'Crazy Times' with Dave Cobb. It's the best record I ever made in my life, but I hate to even say that because that's what everyone says. But I'm telling you from my heart, it's the best record I ever made in my life. We did it at this RCA Studio with all that vintage equipment, it sounds phenomenal. It's great, my best songwriting ever, best production ever, and we made four videos already."

Regarding how making the new album in Nashville with Cobb influenced the sound of the record, Sammy said: "David Cobb said, 'I'm not gonna do anything that even sounds anything remotely country on this record, 'cause I wanted to make an Americana record a little bit less hard rock.' He goes, 'I wanna make 'Standing Hampton'. I wanna make the record I grew up on, I wanna hear you and Mikey sing like you did in 'Top Of The World' with VAN HALEN. That's what we're gonna get out of you guys." And he'd come up and squeeze it out of us, and it's like this book, it's a hybrid of everything I've ever been involved with musically. David Cobb is the reason because he squeezed it out of me. He said, 'This is what I grew up on, motherfucker. You ain't gonna get away with working with me and try to do something else,' you know what I mean? And that's when I learned, and I know he worked with Slash next, and I'm sure Slash found out the same way this guy wants to rock; he don't wanna make no country record with Sammy Hagar."

THE CIRCLE's first album of all-original material, "Space Between", was issued in May 2019 via BMG.

Last year, SAMMY HAGAR & THE CIRCLE released their massively popular "Lockdown Sessions" as an album collection titled "Lockdown 2020".

"Lockdown Sessions" began in March 2020, when the COVID-19 shelter-at-home order went into effect. With time on their hands and their upcoming tour in limbo, Bonham challenged Hagar, Anthony and Johnson to record a warmup jam they'd been playing backstage before concerts for several years. Equipped with iPhones and their respective instruments, they each laid down their individual tracks from the den, music room, closet and even showers of their homes, and "Funky Feng Shui" and the band's "Lockdown Sessions" were born.

Over the next eight months, their "Lockdown Sessions" became a hit with critics and fans alike, producing 10 tracks and reaching an online audience approaching 30 million. The sessions gave the band the opportunity to throw down raw and raucous compact covers of classic hits that they'd jammed to backstage but never planned to record, including THE WHO's "Won't Get Fooled Again", Bob Marley's "Three Little Birds", AC/DC's "Whole Lotta Rosie" and more. When plans for an album came to fruition around the holidays, the band came together to record one more track, a cover of David Bowie's "Heroes" which they'd offer as an instant download or single purchase.

For more than four decades, Hagar has been recognized as one of the best and most accomplished lead singers and songwriters in rock music. From breaking into the industry with the seminal hard rock band MONTROSE to his multi-platinum solo career to his ride as the frontman of VAN HALEN, CHICKENFOOT and his latest supergroup THE CIRCLE, Hagar has amassed 25 platinum albums on sales surpassing 50 million worldwide. Along his journey, he has set the tone for some of the greatest rock anthems ever and earned the highest respect of the music industry with a Grammy Award and induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.

At THE CIRCLE shows, fans experience the legendary artists performing some of Hagar's greatest hits, spanning more than four decades, including songs like "I Can't Drive 55", "Dreams", "Your Love Is Driving Me Crazy", "Mas Tequila", "Why Can't This Be Love", "Right Now" and many more.