It’s no secret that when grunge came along, it basically killed glam metal and the 1980s rock scene. One person who saw the writing on the wall was, interestingly, Sammy Hagar.
The iconic rocker, who was singing for Van Halen at the time, felt so “insecure” about being replaced that he devised a plan to protect his band from being overshadowed by, specifically, Alice in Chains.
During a 2019 interview with Jenny McCarthy, the actress asked Hagar about that uncertain time in his career. She inquired, “Do you ever do that, do you ever look back and kind of in hindsight, go, ‘I am a little bit freaked out by the new guy’ or ‘I’m a little bit nervous about it’? Or are you at a comfortable place?”
“I’m at a total comfortable place now,” he replied. “But when you’re in Van Halen, and the 90s when grunge came along, you know that was freaky, man.” He then quipped that his band was closer to “glam rock” bands like Mötley Crüe and Poison. “We’re all dressed up and looking like girls and stuff. It was more fun dressing like that than the way I dress now.”
Hagar went on to explain, “When grunge came, and they were down and dirty and funky… they made me nervous. I thought, ‘These guys, they’re gonna disrespect us….’ but it didn’t happen.”
So what did Hagar do about his worries? He invited Alice in Chains, essentially the most metal of grunge’s Big 4, to tour with Van Halen. “I was so insecure about it that I invited Alice in Chains, with their first album, their first single, when they had ‘Man in the Box‘ to open for Van Halen. They came out on the whole tour with us.”
Alice in Chains’ song “Man in the Box” has gone on to be certified triple platinum by the RIAA
Hagar then added, “I’ve been dear friends with [Alice in Chains guitarist] Jerry Cantrell since then. But that’s how insecure I was. I said, ‘Let’s get them on the damn show, that way their fans will know that we’re cool.’” He went on to confess that his decision “came out of fear a little bit. Not bad fear, but like nervousness.”
McCarthy noted it seems the move ultimately worked out for the better, to which Hagar replied, “It did… they did really good, business was good, and I made a friend out of it. Jerry, he comes to Cabo for my birthday bash every friggin year.”
The post The ‘Insecure’ Move Sammy Hagar Pulled to Protect Van Halen From Being Overshadowed by Alice in Chains appeared first on VICE.
