Sammy Hagar talks rum, fast cars and one way to rock: 'I'm an artist. I can't help myself'

Sammy Hagar was clearly in his element at Barrett-Jackson recently, surrounded by all sorts of motor vehicles you know the man cannot drive 55.

He said as much after crashing the stage with Michael Anthony (the Van Halen bassist Hagar introduced as his “partner in crime”) to join Red Voodoo (a band whose name was taken from a Hagar solo album) on a raucous set of songs associated with the singer, from Van Halen's "Finish What Ya Started" to “I Can’t Drive 55” on Friday, Jan. 26.

“For me, this is like (expletive) heaven,” a beaming Hagar told the fans. “I would rather be here than at a (expletive) Rolling Stones concert. All these cars?!"

Hagar was in town to introduce the Arizona market to his award-winning Sammy's Beach Bar Cocktail Co. sparkling rum canned cocktails at WestWorld of Scottsdale.

Not long before hopping on stage, he sat with The Arizona Republic for a candid conversation whose topics ranged from how his favorite Creamsicle inspired a sparkling rum cocktail to why he pulled his LaFerrari off the auction block and what fans can expect when he and Anthony head out on tour this summer with Joe Satriani and Jason Bonham.

Here's what he had to say.

Why Sammy Hagar made his sparkling rum canned cocktails

Thank you, Sammy, for taking the time to talk. Is there a story behind how you decided to do a sparkling rum canned cocktail?

Oh yeah, there's a story. During COVID, my daughters and my sons were hanging around a lot, and every now and then, they'd bring somebody over and I'd let 'em sit outside and drink by the pool or they'd go down and walk on the beach. And they had these other... the first couple brands that were out.

There were a couple of them laying around. And I'd say, 'What are these things?' They said, 'Oh man. Dad. These are really good.' So I popped one and tasted it. I said, 'God, this is terrible' And they said, 'Oh yeah, right. What, you can make something better?' I said, 'Yeah, I can.'

So it's COVID time. I've got nothing else to do. I've got rum. So I say, 'I'm gonna make a sparkling rum cocktail.' I called my friends that bottle my products and make my products and said, 'Hey, can we make a sparkling drink?' 'Yeah.' 'Can we make it out of real rum?' 'Well, it's gonna be expensive.'

I don't care how much it costs. For me, it's just about the passion of doing something you want to do. Long story short, I made these sparkling rum cocktails. Back then, everything was sugar-based or beer-based. They weren't using spirits yet because spirits have a higher tax and they're more expensive to make. So they just use generic booze.

I worked on them for about a year and they were fantastic. Then after COVID, when I decided to release them, everybody was making them by then. Now there's hundreds and hundreds and hundreds. So it's a crazy competitive business. But I only do things that I think I can do a better job than what's on the market.

I'm a wine guy. I'm a fine wine guy. I've got 15,000 bottles of wine. I've been collecting wine since the '70s. Deep, deep cellar. And people say, 'Well, if you're such a wine guy, why don't you make wine?' I say, 'Because I cannot make wine better than the wine that I drink.' What am I gonna do? Make crappy wine? No, I don't want to do that.

But the tequila I used to drink when I made Cabo Wabo, I said, 'I can make better tequila than that.' I went down to Tequila (Mexico) and tasted tequilas. I said, 'Hey, how do we do this?' I figured it out, made a deal, started making my own tequila. Still do with Santo.

So if I can't compete, I don't do it. As a singer, when I can't compete with these guys that are still singing, I'll stop singing, too. But right now I think I can compete.

I just saw you at Alice Cooper's Christmas Pudding. You can definitely compete.

(Laughs) That's the way I feel about it. If you can do something as good as everybody else, then go ahead and stay in the game, you know? Or get in the game.

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How Sammy Hagar came up with the flavors of his new rum cocktails

Do you have a favorite flavor of the cocktails?

I think the first one I really wanted to make was the Tangerine Dream. I really wanted to make a Creamsicle. When I was little, I could eat 100 of those Popsicles with ice cream in the middle and my favorite one was orange. So I thought, 'How can I make that orange Creamsicle?' And then, I thought, well, even better, let's kick it up, more elegant, and make it tangerine. That was my first one. And I was so in love with it that I just said, 'Oh, this is great.'

Then I wanted to make Hawaiian Punch. You know, that punch when we were in high school and somebody would have a party at their mom and dad's house and their mom would put out this punch bowl, and somebody would bring a bottle of vodka and dump it in there? (laughs). I thought, 'I want to make Hawaiian Punch, the kind that's spiked.' So it was just like that. I'm just passionate about my flavors that I like.

Then that pineapple jalape?o was the last one I made. And I love that too. With tacos? Like, Mexican food? You'll never drink a beer again. That's the one to drink.

Sammy Hagar on the connection between rum and rock 'n' roll

Very nice. Do you see a connection between the rock 'n' roll lifestyle and this side of what you do?

A hundred percent. It's all creativity. You get an idea, you hear a song in your head, and then you try to write it. You taste something in your mouth that you would like to eat or drink and you create that recipe. It's all about creating something from nothing.

It's creation. I'm an artist. I can't help myself. If you put me in a room with nothing, I gotta make something. It just keeps me happy and keeps me busy. I'm wired that way. I'm a good cook. I make good cocktails. I'm gifted with a good palate.

That's what all my mixologists tell me. And my wine guy. 'You got a good palate.' And I say, 'Yeah, I got a good nose, too. And a good stomach.' I just really enjoy creativity.

Why Sammy Hagar pulled his LaFerrari off the Barrett-Jackson auction

You originally planned to auction a car at Barrett-Jackson last weekend. Now it will go on the block at the Barrett-Jackson Fall Auction in Scottsdale in October. Could you talk about what happened there?

Yeah, the battery took a dump. I said, 'Thank God it started giving us trouble.' All of a sudden, lights were coming on. We thought, 'Oh, the battery must be getting low.' We charged it up. It wouldn't charge. We pulled it out of the car, took a look and said, 'Well, the battery's going. I'm not gonna put this thing out there and sell it to a guy for the kind of money they're paying for it.'

When I bought that car, they were trying to show me in the showroom when it finally came in. It took a couple years to get that car when I ordered it. Had to go to Italy and all this stuff.

When that car landed at the dealership and they said, 'OK, your car's here,' I mean, I was there faster than they got it off the truck. And I was sitting there, they're telling me, you know, this and that. I go, 'Give me the keys.' I just wanted to get into it and go. So I can't imagine somebody buying that car and saying, 'Yeah, you gotta wait 16 weeks for a new battery.' It would've been horrible.

So I'm so happy that it happened when it did. That's one of those situations where a nightmare turned into, 'Whew. That would really have been a nightmare.' Some guy would have paid that kind of money for that car and said, 'You idiot, man, you sold me a car that had a problem.'

The car is gonna be better than it was because it's gonna have a brand new battery in it. And they're hard to get. Ferrari said, 'Send the car over here and we'll fix it for you.' I said, 'Send the car there?' They said, 'Yeah, it'll take about a year to get it back.' I'm going 'I don't have a year.' So they're gonna ship me the battery and they'll put it in.

Sammy Hagar on celebrating Van Halen with Best of All Worlds Tour

You're coming through here on the Best of All Worlds Tour. That's a great group of musicians that you put together. What can you tell me about what fans can expect from that tour?

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.

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. 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.

That is great. Thank you so much for taking time to talk.

It's my pleasure. I could talk about this stuff all night.

I bet you could.

Well, it's in my heart, man.

Reach the reporter at [email protected] or 602-444-4495. Follow him on X @EdMasley.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Sammy Hagar talks rum, LaFerraris and life after Eddie Van Halen