Former Lead Singer of Van Halen But He Still ‘Can’t Drive 55’
The lead vocalist, lead guitarist and Rock & Roll Hall of Famer celebrates his star with wife Kari and family at the Hollywood Walk of Fame where his mother would bring him and his siblings when they were growing up in Fontana.
By ASHLEY CHASE
CALMATTERS
A star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame was unveiled last Tuesday honoring hard rock and heavy metal singer, songwriter and guitarist Sammy Hagar for a career in which he sold more than 50 million albums.
Hagar celebrated his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame with his biggest fan by his side: his wife Kari.
“I can’t tell you how I enjoy having a partner every time something good happens,” he said. “I don’t want to share that by myself. I don’t want to live in a beautiful home and drive fast cars and walk on a beautiful beach without my wife, you know? It’s really important to have a partner that supports you and that you want to be with and be around and that’s Kari.”
The Van Halen rocker, 76, marked his latest achievement with support from Kari, whom he married in 1995 and with whom he shares daughters Kama, 28, and Samantha, 23.
The happy couple posed for photos on as Hagar received his star, and also beamed beside their daughters and Hagar’s sons from a previous relationship, Aaron and Andrew.
“Anybody that [doesn’t] recognize Kari, just look for the most beautiful woman in this town,” Hagar said in his speech. “Kari’s been hanging out with me now for 32 years. And I mean she’s been holding on for dear life. It’s like riding on a rocket ship being around me, I can’t help myself.”
Hagar’s honors include induction in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as part of Van Halen.
Hagar was lead vocalist and lead guitarist for Van Halen from 1985-96 when it produced four multi-platinum, No. 1 Billboard charting albums: “5150,” “OU812,” “For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge,” and “Balance,” along with nine No. 1 mainstream rock hits.
After leaving Van Halen, Hagar released the solo album “Marching to Mars” in 1997, which reached 18th on the Billboard chart, then formed the long- term band, Sammy Hagar & the Waboritas, which released four albums between 1999 and 2006.
Singer John Mayer and Tom Consolo, Hager’s longtime manager, were among those joining Hagar at the ceremony adjacent to Amoeba Music on Hollywood Boulevard. The ceremony was emceed by chef and television host Guy Fieri.
Hagar’s star is across the street from Fieri’s. The two founded the premium Tequila brand Santo Spirit in 2019.
“The idea of where I came from in life, and where my beginnings were, and to have this (star) here, the amount of people I would have to thank, it would be impossible to do in one day,” Hagar said as he accepted the honor.
He said his mother loved the Walk of Fame and would bring him and his siblings to see it when they were growing up in Fontana.
“She would want to come down here and want to see the movie stars,” Hagar said. “She was really in love with the movie industry, and Clark Gable and those guys. I remember seeing this thing and to think — I mean it was just way beyond even a dream. You have dreams and then you have the dream that you didn’t dream. This is one of those dreams that come true that I didn’t dream.”
Born Oct. 13, 1947, in Monterey, Hagar and his family moved to Fontana when his father got a job at the Kaiser Steel Mill.
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