Sammy Hagar is certainly one of the most prolific singers and guitarists in Rock and Roll, he first achieved fame as the vocalist of Montrose, also became a successful solo act and then was invited to join Van Halen. As a solo artist and part of those bands he sold millions of records worldwide and inspired countless generations of musicians.
Although Hagar’s career was more focused on Classic Rock and Hard Rock music, he has a really broad musical taste and a great example is the artist he said was his favorite of all time.
The musician that Sammy Hagar said is his favorite of all time
Sammy is known for writing Rock and Hard Rock songs but he loves Progressive Rock and experimental music, so the artist he said is his favorite of all time is Peter Gabriel. He revealed that he loves the original Genesis vocalist in an interview with ABC7 back in 2021 (Transcribed by Rock and Roll Garage). “Peter Gabriel. He is so passionate, soulful, deep, clever, wise and unique. He sings about stuff that I don’t even know what he’s talking about (laughs). And I’m going ‘yeah, I’m buying it’.
It was not the only time he praised Gabriel. Talking with Rolling Stone in 2016, Hagar revealed that he wished he had written “Sledgehammer”. “This is so clever (The song). When I write a song about sex, like ‘Poundcake,’ it’s so fucking blatant. Peter puts this twist on it where it sounds cutesy-pie,” Sammy Hagar said.
That song was released on the acclaimed Gabriel solo album “So”. Released in 1986. It is his biggest hit in the United States. It peaked at number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The fantastic music video of the song won a record nine MTV Video Music Awards at the 1987 edition of the event.
Hagar was not the only member of Van Halen who loved Peter Gabriel
Sammy Hagar was not the only member of Van Halen who loved the former Genesis vocalist. The late legendary guitarist Eddie Van Halen was a big fan and praised many times the album “So” (1986). That record has famous tracks like “Red Rain”, “Sledgehammer”, “Don’t Give Up”, “Mercy Street”, “Big Time” and “In Your Eyes”.
One of his favorite songs was “Red Rain”, and his son Wolfgang Van Halen already said a few times that he has great memories of his father presenting him to that track.
“I’ll never forget him coming up to me one night with these huge headphones and going, ‘Wolf, put these one.’ And he put the headphones on my head and cranked the first song ‘Red Rain’.”
“The soundscape of it is incredible. Everybody should do that at least once in their life, put an amazing pair of headphones on and crank Red Rain. It’s very hard to listen to now my father is gone. But that album front to back is Peter Gabriel at his finest,” Wolfgang Van Halen told Classic Rock.
Peter Gabriel first became famous as the vocalist of Genesis from 1967 until 1975, when he decided to go solo. Since the mid-70s he maintains a very successful solo career with dozens of hits like “Solsbury Hill”, “Sledgehammer”, “Don’t Give Up” and “In Your Eyes”. He has sold an estimated amount of more than 16 million records worldwide. Until 2014 he released 10 studio albums, the most recent one being “i/o” (2023).