Also known by the name “Red Rocker”, Sammy Hagar is an American musician, guitarist, and songwriter. Hagar has undoubtedly become one of the biggest artists of the world who has influenced the young and old generation.
Hagar gained enormous success with the band Van Halen during his days. Beyond his musical career, he is also involved in several businesses that have contributed to his overall wealth drastically. Let’s take a peek and explore the life of Sammy Hagar and how he earned a huge net worth.
Sammy Hagar’s Early Life and Musical Journey
Samuel Roy Gagar was born on October 13, 1947, in Salinas, California, United States. His family soon moved to Fontana, California where his father worked at the Kaiser Steel Mill.
Hagar went through a tough childhood. His father was an alcoholic and used to spend all his money on alcohol. He used to spend all the rent money on alcohol and when Hagar was 10, his mother left him for good.
The teenage boy did everything to help the family, he tried to pick fruits deliver newspapers, and mow lawns to earn a few bucks. During high school, he came across music and taught himself guitar.
When he was 14, he formed a band ‘Fabulous Castles’. After graduating high school, I moved to Riverside and played with various bands. He also used to work in a music department at the local store.
By the time 1970, Hagar had already gained recognition by the locals as the lead vocalist. He moved to Fontana with his family and during his stay there Hagar stated that some uninvented guests visited him.
“A ship and two creatures inside of this ship and they were connected to me, tapped into my mind through some kind of mysterious wireless connection”, he said.
He added, “I was kind of waking up. They said, in their communication to each other, no words spoke, ‘Oh, he’s waking up. We’ve got to go.’ They fired off a numerical code, but it was not of our numerical system. All of a sudden, pow, the connection instantly broke.”
After such an experience, Hagar decided to visit a psychic in Yucaipa, California. The psychic told him to go to San Franciso, and that’s when his life changed.
Sammy Hagar’s Musical Journey
When Sammy was in San Fransisco, he was spotted and recruited by the band ‘Montrose’ which was established by the guitarist Ronnie Montrose. After having some disputes and conflicts with Ronnie, Hagar left the band and then embarked on his solo career.
Hagar had a good run as a solo artist. By the late 70s, he was already an artist that everyone knew about. He earned the name ‘ the Red Rocker ‘ with albums like ‘Nine on a Ten Scale’ and hits like ‘Red’.’
During a festival in 1978, Hagar encountered Eddie Van Halen and they performed together that day. Eddie even told Sammy that Montrose had heavily influenced his music and was his favorite band.
“Not his soloing as much as the chording – yeah, he took some of that big open chord thing [from Montrose]. The big open A, the big open D, the big open E. Everything as open as you could make it, to make it as heavy as possible with one guitar. And that was pretty much Ronnie’s style, too.” Sammy Hagar told the Rolling Stones.
in 1985 when Davi Lee Roth left the band, Eddie Van Halen and Alex Van Halen reached out to Hagar to replace David and become their next new lead singer.
He accepted the request and he became the new lead singer of the band. Van Halen, delivered multiple albums such as, For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge, Balance, 5150, and OU812, which charted at No.1 on Billboard.
He remained the lead singer of Van Halen for 11 years and eventually left the band in 1996. He again embarked on his solo career and released successful albums such as “Marching to Mars” and “Red Voodoo.”
Sammy Hagar’s Business Ventures
Although music has played a vital part as the main source of his income, his entrepreneurial skills have also helped him to add a hefty amount to his net worth. With such a set of skills, he established a famous restaurant and nightclub in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico in 1990.
Cabo Wabo, his tequila brand is another example of why Sammy is so talented in business. Cabo Wabo became a huge success and he gained enormous profit out of the brand. Moreover, it was also recognized for its quality and flavor.
In 2007 alone, he sold about 80% stake in tequila to the Campari Group for $80 million. Hagar took back the ownership of the company and still made a great profit from it.
How can we forget about Sammy’s Beach Bar & Grill? A chain of bars and partnership with the popular chef Emeril Lagasse for Sammy’s Beach Bar Rum brand. Many fans also adore him and his autobiography “Red: My Uncensored Life in Rock.” Such kind of business ventures have helped Hagar to create a great net worth for him.
Sammy Hagar’s Real State and Collection
After having a successful career in music, there’s no doubt that Sammy has some expensive real estate. Sammy frequently visits his home in Mill Valley, California, north of San Fransico. He bought the house there for $160,000 in 1978.
Hagar also owns a few houses in Lake Tahoe that he bought for $450,000 in 2007. He also owns a 6,557-square-foot house in Lake Arrowhead, California. The building was established in 2009 for $2.3 million.
He has been trying to sell the real estate there for a long time but has found no success. He first listed the house for $5.25 million, but since no one approached for it, the price was reduced to $3.9 million.
Besides having some expensive real estate, Hagar also has a luxurious collection of cars. Sammy custom-ordered a white LeFerrari for $2.2 million which is the only white LaFerarri to exist in the world.
He also owns other luxurious cars such as a 1982 Ferrari 512BB, a 1967 Gateway GCM-R Fastback Mustang, a 2005 Aston Martin Vanquish Lagonda, a 2008 Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano F1, and many more. He’s sure a proud collector.
How Much Is Sammy Hagar’s Net Worth?
The Red Rocker has earned an enormous amount of success in his musical career. During his stay with Van Halen, he contributed to 4 studio albums and gave the group some hits such as Best of Both Worlds, No. 150 Poundcake, The Dream is Over, and Right Now.
Sammy also had a successful run on his solo career. He made his first debut album in 1976 with ‘Nine On A Ten Scale’. All total Hagar released 25 platinum albums which made 50 million sales worldwide.
He was even inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a Van Halen member in 2007. Alongside his successful musical career, he has also had a great business run with his tequila brand, Cabo Wabo which was sold for $101 million.
Hagar has also made a hefty amount of money through tours and merchandise. Sammy has established a great financial empire. With all such success, his net worth is estimated to be around $150 million. He is also the richest member of his former band, Van Halen.