Sammy Hagar Explains Why He Switched Drummers

Next year, Sammy Hagar will bring his ‘Best of All Worlds’ tour to Las Vegas for a residency. At his side will be Michael Anthony, Joe Satriani and, the newest addition to the lineup, Kenny Aronoff.

Aronoff came into the picture earlier this year when drummer Jason Bonham exited the group due to a family emergency. But what initially looked like a temporary situation has now become permanent for the foreseeable future.

“There’s two reasons,” Hagar recently explained to Rolling Stone. “Number one, he’s one of the greatest drummers on the planet. I think he’s been on more million-selling records than any musician in the world. And he did so well on this tour, and he plays with Joe on a full-time basis…

“And he blew my mind. I played with Kenny in Chickenfoot, and he blew my mind then too, because when we auditioned him, he learns every song. ‘Tell me what songs we’re playing.’ ‘Okay, here they are.’ He charts them out and he sits there, and he fuckin’ can read it, and play it with soul and power perfectly, just one time, the first time he plays it. If that don’t blow a musician’s mind, I don’t know what would, especially these kinds of songs. These songs are crazy. They’re fuckin’ Van Halen arrangements.”

The Las Vegas Residency Will Be Different From the ‘Best of All Worlds’ Tour

Contrary to the identical title, Hagar is promising that the ‘Best of All Worlds’ residency will be different from the tour version of the show. Staying in one place, the band is better equipped to slot other songs into the set.

“It’s really hard, because you don’t have time,” Hagar said. “You’re either traveling, then when you get to your bed, you’re like, ‘Fuck it, I don’t want to go rehearse.’ With the residency, we’re playing Wednesday, Friday, Saturday every week. We have Thursday off. The building’s [dark], so we can go in and change songs.”

READ MORE: All 48 Sammy Hagar-Era Van Halen Songs Ranked Worst to Best

Like the tour, there will be a mix of Hagar’s solo material, Montrose, Chickenfoot and, of course, Van Halen songs.

“The whole Van Halen catalog, mainly my catalog…I feel like I own it now, because nobody else can do it,” Hagar said. “It’s like there’s no one that can do that catalog except a cover band. Mikey and I, we feel like we own it, and we feel this obligation to the music and to the fans to carry it on.”