Sammy Hagar: “Here’s How I Met Eddie Van Halen”
As Sammy Hagar fans know, the “I Can’t Drive 55” songwriter has a thing for fast cars.
He recently got together with another automobile aficionado—Jay Leno—to talk about his collection for the premiere episode of Jay Leno’s Garage.
While showing Leno the 1982 Ferrari 512BB he used for the “I Can’t Drive 55” music video, Hagar recalled how the car played a role in his meeting Eddie Van Halen and, eventually, joining Van Halen.
Check out the relevant clip from the show below. We’ve also include the original “I Can’t Drive 55” video at bottom.
Get The Pick Newsletter
All the latest guitar news, interviews, lessons, reviews, deals and more, direct to your inbox!
Thank you for reading 5 articles this month**
Join now for unlimited access
US pricing $3.99 per month or $39.00 per year
UK pricing £2.99 per month or £29.00 per year
Europe pricing €3.49 per month or €34.00 per year
*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription
Christopher Scapelliti is editor-in-chief of Guitar Player magazine, the world’s longest-running guitar magazine, founded in 1967. In his extensive career, he has authored in-depth interviews with such guitarists as Pete Townshend, Slash, Billy Corgan, Jack White, Elvis Costello and Todd Rundgren, and audio professionals including Beatles engineers Geoff Emerick and Ken Scott. He is the co-author of Guitar Aficionado: The Collections: The Most Famous, Rare, and Valuable Guitars in the World, a founding editor of Guitar Aficionado magazine, and a former editor with Guitar World, Guitar for the Practicing Musician and Maximum Guitar. Apart from guitars, he maintains a collection of more than 30 vintage analog synthesizers.
“The Yardbirds had no need to worry about Clapton’s departure – they had Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page onboard”: The history of the ’60s British blues boom – the movement that carried a tidal wave of guitar heroes across the Atlantic
“Shredding is an amazing thing to be able to do, but when you can really write a feeling with a melody, like Johnny Marr did so well, that’s the goal”: Conor Curley of Fontaines D.C. on his love of Deftones and why he’s writing riffs like a beginner