Sammy Hagar Recalls The First Show He Performed With Eddie Van Halen

Former Van Halen frontman Sammy Hagar shared a post on his official Instagram page celebrating the 66th birthday of the late Van Halen guitarist Eddie Van Halen in addition to remembering the first time he performed with the legendary guitarist which was back in 1985.

As many of you know, after the departure of David Lee Roth back in 1985, Van Halen auditioned and immediately started to work with Sammy Hagar. The band produced four multi-platinum, number one Billboard charting albums, as well as many chart hits including nine number-one Mainstream Rock hits. Sammy Hagar worked as the lead singer of the band until he left the band in 1996 due to an internal dispute.

It was September 22, 1985, when Sammy Hagar performed at the first Farm Aid, after three songs with his own band, iconic Eddie Van Halen joined him on stage which turned the stadium crowd crazy. The two performed one song together, Led Zeppelin’s ‘Rock and Roll,’ backed by Hagar’s solo band.

The performance was monumental due to the fact that it was Sammy Hagar and Eddie Van Halen’s first public show together. Hagar was so amazed by Van Halen’s 35-second solo that he continuously repeated the first verse of the song rather than singing the rest of the song.

36 years later, Sammy Hagar shared a post on his official Instagram page remembering the first time he performed with the fabulous Eddie Van Halen by stating that he will never forget that time in addition to revealing that he misses Eddie Van Halen.

Hagar also celebrated the late Van Halen guitarist’s 66th birthday after the loss of Eddie Van Halen nearly 4 months ago after his long battle with throat cancer as his son, former Van Halen bassist Wolfgang Van Halen revealed through a social media post.

Here is what Hagar said:

I’ll never forget the first time Eddie and I played on stage together. It was Farm Aid 1985 in Champaign, Illinois. I sure do I miss this guy! Happy Birthday, Eddie.”

You can click here to see the Instagram post.