SAMMY HAGAR: 'VAN HALEN Always Did Everything Wrong And Backwards'

Kevin C. Johnson of STLtoday.com recently conducted an interview with Sammy Hagar. A few excerpts follow:

STLtoday.com: What's it like having "Hall of Famer" in front of your name?

Hagar: It's really exciting, being there and standing next to Keith Richards and people I looked up to my entire career. That puts my name in the same light as my heroes, and that really affected my self-confidence and how I feel about where I am and what I did in music. It was a feeling like I'd arrived.

STLtoday.com: After all you've accomplished over the past few decades, how can you talk about arriving and self-confidence?

Hagar: You'd be surprised. There's always somebody criticizing me, ever since I reinvented myself in 1996 after I left VAN HALEN and stopped being that heavy metal rock guy to become the lifestyle guy. I got heat from critics and fans who thought I was too mellow and sold out. I'm always taking shots. Now you can shoot all you want, but be careful. You might hit Keith Richards.

STLtoday.com: How did you feel about so many of VAN HALEN's members being no-shows at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony? (Only Hagar and Michael Anthony showed up; Eddie Van Halen has been in and out of rehab this year.)

Hagar: It was a shame, the one negative in the whole giant positive thing. If Ed had been capable of being there, and if the five of us, including Dave (singer David Lee Roth),had been there, because he belongs there as much as me, and we'd thrown all the crap out the window and done four or five songs, it would've been the highlight of all inductions.

VAN HALEN is one of the most powerful bands in the world, and we wanted to accept this with dignity and do the right thing. But VAN HALEN has never done the right thing. VAN HALEN always did everything wrong and backwards, and that was the icing on the cake. To screw that up makes all the sense in the world.

STLtoday.com: What do you think of the on-again off-again nature of the VAN HALEN tour this year (a planned reunion tour crumbled)?

Hagar: I pay attention as much as I don't want to. It's like watching your brothers and sisters screw up. I've told Alex (Van Halen) and others I'm not interested in a VAN HALEN reunion at this point in my life. They need to do one with Dave for the fans first, get that out of the way. I'm having too much fun with the WABOS and how we approach our music and lives. It's so rewarding and fun, and I can't imagine doing anything else now.

STLtoday.com: Do you think they'll tour again?

Hagar: Since I left, they've only toured twice, once with Gary (Cherone) and once with me. Other than that, they've never done it. Something's really wrong. I don't think it'll ever work. They tried again and again, and they can't do it. I don't know what the problem is because I'm not there to see it, but it must be ugly.

STLtoday.com: Is it true you sold a major interest in your Cabo Wabo tequila brand for $80 million to Skyy Spirits?

Hagar: It's true. I took on some partners who are some of the biggest distributors in the world. I needed someone to take it to the next level, so I made the deal for worldwide distribution. They gave me so much damn money it's stupid. But I've been a rich rock star for so long money doesn't mean that much to me. It ain't about money, and I wish everyone would believe that. I already own everything I want. And if Jimmy Buffett woke up with my money he would file Chapter 11.

Read the entire interview at STLtoday.com.