Sammy Hagar Says Pantera’s Manager Offered Him To Replace Phil Anselmo

Sammy Hagar recently joined Jose Mangin in Vin Dame Limo and chatted about other bands. After Mangin stated that his favorite band is Pantera, Hagar confessed that their manager proposed him to become their lead vocalist.

The Red Rocker is mainly known for replacing David Lee Roth in Van Halen after he left the band between 1985 and 1996. After leaving VH, Hagar continued his career both as a solo musician and by embarking on new projects. Even though there wasn’t any bad blood between him and David Lee Roth, he had stated that he avoids singing the band’s DLR era songs because he couldn’t get himself to perform something that doesn’t belong to him.

Hagar doesn’t want to replace anyone in a band anymore, and he made this very clear in his latest interview. Hagar stated that the heavy metal band Pantera’s manager had proposed Hagar to become their lead vocalist. Determined in his decision, the singer refused the manager’s offer. However, he also had doubts whether this was true because when he later met the band’s drummer Vinnie, he didn’t recall wishing to recruit Hagar.

Here is how he recalled:

“Let me tell you something crazy. I don’t believe it, I don’t believe it’s true. But Pantera had a manager. This was before I actually became friends with Vinnie. He said Pantera, want me to be their lead singer of the band, could you be interested and I said ‘No, not after Van Halen, I’m not going to another band especially covering for somebody else.’ And I brought it up to Vinnie one time, and he doesn’t remember it, but I don’t know if there is any truth in it.”

In the same interview, Hagar also mentioned that Aerosmith asked him to become their singer as well, but he refused for the same reason. Even though both are highly accomplished and well-known bands in the USA, the Red Rocker had decided that he is not willing to take part in an already established band by replacing their original singers. On the other hand, he admitted that he could consider joining Led Zeppelin, yet, not when Robert Plant is alive.