Sammy Hagar is a rock vocalist and guitarist. Hagar is known as a solo artist and a former member of several notable bands.
Hagar first came to prominence singing on the first two Montrose albums - Montrose (1973) and Paper Money (1974). Neither charted highly, but the band's debut proved to be very influential and would ultimately achieve platinum status in the United States, representing one million shipments. Hagar would then become a solo artist with Capitol Records, putting out five studio albums and a live album by 1980. At this point, Hagar switched to Geffen Records, and was far more successful with this label. 1981's Standing Hampton went platinum, 1982's Three Lock Box went gold (half a million shipments) and 1984's VOA went platinum. Hagar briefly formed a supergroup HSAS who released an album and a single, but to little fanfare.
In 1985, Hagar would join Van Halen, who were signed to Warner Bros. Records. It was under Hagar that the band would achieve their commercial peak, achieving four #1 studio albums - 5150 (1986), OU812 (1988), For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge(1991), and Balance (1995). Though Hagar's career remained focused on Van Halen, Hagar remained a solo artist also, putting out the successful I Never Said Goodbye album in 1987, and recording new songs for the Unboxed compilation in 1994.
Hagar returned to solo work in 1996 and continued to release albums steadily to a moderate success. He put together a new backing band, The Waboritas and focused his efforts on his tequila business. He would rejoin Van Halen briefly to record three new songs for a compilation - The Best of Both Worlds (2004, platinum) and to undertake an 80-date Summer tour, before returning to work with The Wabos. In 2008, he released his first solo album since 1997, Cosmic Universal Fashion. He put the Waboritas on leave; he keeps his band paid year round. Sammy then started his next project - a self-titled album with the supergroup Chickenfoot featuring Michael Anthony of Van Halen, Chad Smith of the Red Hot Chili Peppers and guitar virtuoso Joe Satriani who has previously played with Mick Jagger, Steve Vai and Deep Purple.
12 of Hagar's albums have achieved Gold or Platinum status in the United States, with a total of 25 Platinum certifications and four Gold certifications representing a total of 27 million shipments. Total US shipments are estimated to be well over 30 million. In Canada, Hagar's other main market for commercial success, only his Van Halen albums have achieved certification; 10 Platinum certifications and one Gold meaning a total of 840,000 shipments. Hagar's global sales surpass the 40 million mark, though his popularity is mostly centered in the United States.
Hagar was in Montrose from 1973-1975. Montrose's compilation include songs featuring Bob James who recorded with the band from 1975-1976 and Johnny Edwards who sang for the band in 1987. Concequently, not all songs on this album feature Hagar or his songwriting.
Sammy Hagar live at the Moondance Jam on July 10, 2008 with The Waboritas. Photo by Matt Becker
Studio albums
17
Live albums
6
Compilation albums
12
Video albums
3
Singles
60
The Waboritas (also known as "The Wabos") is a backing band Hagar uses on some of his albums, but he tends to still refer to these as solo albums so they have been kept together. On compilation albums, often no distinction is made between Hagar's solo work and his work with the Waboritas so none has been made here.
"Fallen From Grace". Previously unreleased demo version of the song that was officially released in the 1990 album Brigade by the rock band Heart. The song was written by the trio.
Hagar was in Van Halen from 1985-1996 and 2004. Both of Van Halen's compilation albums also include songs featuring current lead vocalist David Lee Roth who recorded with the band from 1974 to 1985. He returned in 1997 for the first best of album that went #1 on Billboard. He then returned in 2006 and is still a member and touring with them now in 2015. Consequently, not all songs on these albums feature Hagar or his songwriting.
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