Sammy Hagar Shares The VH Song Proves He And Eddie Van Halen Could Collaborate

Former Van Halen frontman Sammy Hagar was interviewed by Guitar Player and revealed the Van Halen song that reflects their successful collaboration with Eddie Van Halen.

After David Lee Roth left Van Halen in 1985, Eddie Van Halen approached Sammy Hagar to replace him after the suggestion of their mutual Ferrari mechanic. He knew about Hagar and his band Montrose, as well as his hit single ‘I Can’t Drive 55.’ Sammy Hagar then agreed to sing vocals and play rhythm guitar in Van Halen.

With Hagar, Van Halen released the album ‘5150’ in 1986. Following the release, the album turned out to be a huge success and topped the Billboard charts. Moreover, the record featured a new Van Halen logo on the cover, introducing the new Hagar era. With the 5150 Tour, the Hagar-era songs began to dominate Van Halen’s setlists.

After the 1988 album ‘OU812,’ Van Halen released their third album featuring Hagar titled ‘For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge.’ Released on June 17, 1991, the album topped the Billboard 200 album chart and stayed there for three weeks. Moreover, it also featured the band’s classic hit ‘Right Now.’

In an interview with Guitar World, Sammy Hagar recalled the time he recorded ‘Right Now’ with Eddie Van Halen. He stated that Eddie played the piano part numerous times to inspire him, and he later came up with the lyrics. As Hagar said, they ‘went straight into recording,’ and Eddie winged his solos instead of creating them beforehand.

In the Guitar Player interview, Sammy Hagar said the following about ‘Right Now,’

“Eddie kept playing me the piano part, trying to inspire me. I heard him play it probably 100 times. Then, one day I started singing to it, and I had it. Everything fit and made sense. The lyrics came to me, and I told Eddie, ‘This thing’s written. Let’s record.’

I don’t think we even had a cassette of it. We just went straight into recording. The whole thing came together like magic. The tune was happening.”

He then continued:

“Usually, Eddie had solos pretty locked down before we started recording, but on this song, he winged it. He came out of the house in pajamas and slippers, went into the studio, and played whatever came out. And as you might expect, it was pretty damn great.

Eddie also played a couple of passes which sounded awesome, because as everybody knows, Eddie never played a bad solo.

As Hagar said, the song ‘Right Now’ turned out to be excellent in the end, although Eddie entered the studio wearing pajamas and slippers and played whatever came to him. According to the musician, this was because Eddie never played a bad solo. Moreover, during the makings of ‘Right Now,’ the Red Rocker realized that the combination of their efforts resulted in magic.