Sammy Hagar has opened up about the his upcoming North American “Best of All Worlds” tour, revealing more details about what fans can expect from the Red Rocker and his all-star backing band.
The Summer 2024 outing will hit 28 cities across the US and Canada, kicking off July 13th in West Palm Beach, Florida (pick up tickets here). Hagar will be backed by bassist Michael Anthony, guitarist Joe Satriani, and drummer Jason Bonham, and the setlist will mostly pull from Van Halen, including the early David Lee Roth material.
“We’re gonna kind of just really go heavy on Van Halen,” Hagar told Arizona Republic in a new interview. “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.”
While Hagar has previously said that the tour was booked to piggyback on the release of the “Van Hagar” box set The Collection II, he was a bit more sentimental in this latest interview. Not only is he calling the upcoming gigs a “thank you tour” for the fans and the late Eddie Van Halen, Hagar is also implying that his days of touring won’t last much longer, making the 2024 run a particularly special occasion.
“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,” Hagar said. “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.”
Hagar has gone as far as to invite David Lee Roth and Alex Van Halen to join his band onstage at some point on the tour. DLR replied in the affirmative, although that looks less likely to happen given the continued war of words between the two singers. Meanwhile, Hagar believes that Alex doesn’t want to play without his brother Eddie.
“Mike and I, 20 years ago, did a reunion,” Hagar explained in the Arizona Republic interview. “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.”
Hagar’s tour runs from mid-July through the end of August, and you can get tickets here.
