Sammy Hagar says he nonetheless can’t drive 55. But it’s troublesome to inform if he implies that actually, or if he’s talking about his take-no-prisoners philosophy of life as a complete.
Hagar — aka the Red Rocker — is the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer finest identified for his stints as lead singer of Van Halen over two durations (sure, he’s the man who adopted David Lee Roth). He’s additionally labored extensively as a solo artist, along with his 1984 music, “I Can’t Drive 55,” being his greatest hit.
But Hagar, now 75 years outdated, is a musician who’s discovered equal footing within the enterprise world, nearly like a hard-rocking equal to the entrepreneurial Jimmy Buffett.
He scored a significant success along with his Cabo Wabo tequila model, which he offered to Gruppo Campari for $100 million in 2008. Today, his empire covers spirits (he’s obtained a brand new tequila known as Santo); canned cocktails (he launched Sammy’s Beach Bar Cocktail Co.); and eating places (his Cabo Wabo Cantina, positioned in Mexico, has been in enterprise since 1990, plus there’s his Sammy’s Beach Bar & Grill chain). He’s even written his personal mixology e-book, “Sammy Hagar’s Cocktail Hits.”
Somehow, within the midst of all this, Hagar additionally retains making music. He now heads up a gaggle known as The Circle, which launched its newest album, “Crazy Times,” in 2022.
MarketWatch caught up not too long ago with Hagar to study his frenetic life and profession, and to get his views on key issues of private finance. Here are edited excerpts from the dialog.
MarketWatch: You’ve had a really profitable profession in music, however you simply preserve branching out. Is there a logical thread that connects your profession in music with all these different belongings you do?
Hagar: It’s plain and easy. I’m a inventive individual, and my thoughts expands past simply writing a music. If that’s all I used to be caught with doing, I’d get type of stagnant. I really like a problem.
The complete hospitality enterprise is so linked to my followers. It’s like me entertaining them always, me simply giving them issues to do, displaying them a life-style, displaying them some good meals, some good drinks, turning them on to issues. And then, I make my very own spirits so that they drink that, they go into my bars, they go into my eating places, they play my music, they arrive to my live shows. I believe it’s a extra full expertise.
MarketWatch: You had been attempting to get individuals to take tequila critically lengthy earlier than George Clooney was peddling costly bottles. What did it to take to raise the spirit, which actually had a really bottom-of-the-barrel status within the U.S.?
Hagar: Boy, it certain did, and I had the identical opinion after I was rising up. Then, I went to Jalisco, Mexico, to purchase furnishings for my Cabo Wabo restaurant. A good friend of mine mentioned, “Have you ever been to where they make tequila?” And we went there, and I tasted 100% agave tequila. This is like 1987. And I went, “Whoa! I gotta turn people on to this. This is blowing my mind. This is delicious.” So it was simple as a result of the best way I skilled it was such a cataclysmic expertise. I obtained it in individuals’s palms that had been influencers like Willie Nelson. Everybody that tasted mentioned the identical factor, and the excellent news was that nobody had actually tasted good tequila earlier than.
Ingredients are a very powerful factor (in a spirit). Otherwise, that will be like saying, “I got a great song. Now let’s just get some guy to record a guitar solo for it.” No, you need to say, “Let’s get Eddie Van Halen.” Now, it’s actually a superb music.
MarketWatch: You’ve additionally gone into the canned cocktail enterprise. That’s a crowded market proper now. Some would say it’s too crowded. What do you suppose it should take to succeed?
Hagar: The identical factor: a greater product. That’s all I depend on with every part I do. Because I’ve had success in so many various methods, I may assist myself greater than I’d ever want with my music, or I may assist myself greater than I ever would wish with my restaurant and cantina enterprise. So it’s not like I’ve to make a dwelling off this and I’ve to chop corners. I can break even and be comfortable.
MarketWatch: You’ve written a brand new cocktail e-book. What’s the most important mistake that most individuals make in the case of getting ready cocktails at residence?
Hagar: I believe the most important mistake is utilizing an already-made mixer. Make your mixers from scratch. The higher the substances, the higher the cocktail.
MarketWatch: What are you discovering as an artist at your age that you just want you knew whenever you had been youthful?
Hagar: I want I’d have spent extra time making data as a substitute of simply desirous to get my ass on the market on tour. I actually thought touring was my avenue for fulfillment, as a result of I’m a performer and I took recording evenly. I’d make a document as fast as I may, so I may get again on tour.
MarketWatch: You’re most likely not the man who can reply this query objectively, however we’ll ask it anyhow: Which Van Halen period was higher — the Sammy Hagar period or the David Lee Roth period?
Hagar: Dude, that’s like asking what got here first, the hen or the egg? For me, I believe the Hagar period was rather more elevated musically. We wrote a lot deeper, extra complicated songs. And my melodies and my vary had been so a lot better than what Dave may do. Dave was extra concerning the antics of the band and the gimmicks.
Van Halen band members Sammy Hagar (left) and Michael Anthony on the 2007 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony.
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MarketWatch: What’s one thing you’re keen to splurge on?
Hagar: Fine wine.
MarketWatch: What’s essentially the most you’ve ever spent on a bottle?
Hagar: Oh, God, please don’t ask that query, it’s embarrassing. How about If I’ve instructed you I’ve drank $80,000 bottles of wine. I didn’t spend that a lot on them on the time, although. You see I’ve been amassing wine a very long time, so I’ve a really deep assortment. I’ve most likely 15,000 bottles. So, I’d have a bottle that perhaps I paid $2,000 or $3,000 for 40 years in the past that’s price $80,000, $90,000 or $100,000 now.
MarketWatch: Conversely, what’s one thing you hate spending cash on?
Hagar: Lawyers.
MarketWatch: What’s the most important monetary mistake you’ve made? Have you ever purchased an costly bottle of wine that had turned to vinegar?
Hagar: Oh yeah, I paid a few thousand {dollars} for a ’45 Lafite that was simply shot. And the vendor goes, “Well, it’s an old bottle of wine. There’s no guarantees.” I mentioned, “You got to be kidding, I’ll never buy wine from you again.” And I didn’t.
MarketWatch: You clearly have a superb head for enterprise. But why accomplish that many different entertainers — and rock stars specifically — get into a lot bother with cash?
Hagar: Well, it’s really easy whenever you’re hitting it massive to suppose you’re simply on high of the world. You don’t take into consideration paying your taxes. You know, the primary time I made one million {dollars}, I spent quite a lot of it. I purchased my first home, and I purchased a Ferrari and I invested some. And then subsequent yr, my accountant says, “You know, you’ve got $472,000 in taxes.” And I am going, “Holy s—t. I need to book some shows. I’m broke!”
That’s one factor. And additionally, you suppose you’re invincible. You’re making a lot cash yr after yr that you just don’t notice it may come to an finish swiftly. And for many artists, it does. The artists who’ve longevity, we’re fortunate. Me, I’m the luckiest man on the earth.
