Sammy Hagar calls his Best of All Worlds residency retirement. If this is what stepping back looks like, sign us up. The Rock and Roll Hall of Famer returns to Dolby Live at Park MGM for 11 performances across March and September.
“I could do this for the rest of my life,” Hagar tells Las Vegas Magazine. “I honestly think it’s retirement.”
It’s hard to argue with the math. The residency reunites Hagar with bassist Michael Anthony, guitar virtuoso Joe Satriani, powerhouse drummer Kenny Aronoff and multi-instrumentalist Rai Thistlethwayte. Hagar has the pick of dozens of hits before each show, letting the audience and the moment guide him. Sometimes it’s a fan holding up a sign asking for “Summer Nights.” Sometimes it’s redeeming a song the band stumbled through the night before. “We have so much fun,” he says. “This band is so good.”
The setlist draws from Hagar’s entire career—solo anthems like “I Can’t Drive 55” alongside deep Van Halen cuts and hits. “They all came from me,” Hagar says of weaving together songs from different eras. “So it was something I was experiencing in my life … it’s still part of my life. So when I’m singing them, you know, I bounce around in my head, in my heart and my soul with these songs onstage, but they’re all connected.”
When Hagar joined Van Halen in 1985, replacing David Lee Roth, he was already a successful solo artist coming off “I Can’t Drive 55.” With Hagar at the helm, Van Halen released four consecutive No. 1 albums: 5150 (1986), OU812 (1988), For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge (1991) and Balance (1995). All went multiplatinum. Hagar and Eddie Van Halen wrote every song together, with Eddie handling the music and Hagar the lyrics and melodies. The partnership produced hits including “Why Can’t This Be Love,” “Right Now,” “Dreams” and “Poundcake.”
Eddie Van Halen’s passing in 2020 crystallized something for Hagar. A reunion that was supposed to happen became impossible. Alex Van Halen’s retirement from drumming closed another door. Carrying the Van Halen legacy forward became not just an opportunity but an obligation for both him and Anthony, who was a founding member of Van Halen. “‘Mike, it’s you and me, brother,’” Hagar realized. “It’s so necessary to carry the legacy of that music on.”
But this residency goes beyond nostalgia. When Hagar sings “Right Now,” a song he and Eddie wrote in 1991, it resonates differently. “Something else is happening right now than what was happening in ’91 when we wrote it,” he notes. Even “Love Walks In,” which Hagar wrote about UFOs when such topics lived on the fringe, lands differently now that alien disclosure has entered mainstream conversation.
For Hagar, the residency offers what touring never could: great shows without the grind. “You play Wednesday, Friday, Saturday,” he says. “Thursday night, you have a great meal at the culinary capital of the world. Then you go see a great show and get inspired. Same bed every night. You don’t have to get on an airplane.”
That’s the genius of it: Hagar delivers peak experiences without the burnout. As retirement plans go, this one beats golf by a mile.
Park MGM, 8 p.m. March 11, 13-14, 18 and 20-21, starting at $126 plus tax and fee. ticketmaster.com
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