10 Best Sammy Hagar Songs Across His Entire Career

Feature Photo: TDC Photography / Shutterstock.com

With the news of a new Sammy Hagar live album that celebrates his time with Van Halen, we thought it might be fun to pick 10 songs from across his entire career that we think are true standouts. We have done many Sammy Hagar lists on this site, and usually tend to pick individual parts of his career, like the top 10 Sammy Hagar Van Halen songs or the top 10 Sammy Hagar solo songs, the Montrose years, etc. Yet we’ve never done just an overall top 10, which we thought it was time to do. This will be challenging because he has recorded so much great stuff. Yet it’s all really designed for the people who do not know much about Sammy Hagar, like the younger generation who may be hearing his voice for the first time and are wondering who is this dude. Here are 10 essential Sammy Hagar songs, or we should say Sammy Hagar projects, bands, or groups that all feature one thing in common: Sammy Hagar on vocals.

# 10 – Red – solo albums

I can listen to this song every day and never get sick of it. It’s not just because it brings me back to being 16 again when I first saw Sammy Hagar open up for Boston, and of course, this was the first Sammy Hagar song I ever heard as he opened the show with it. No, in the end, this is just a killer classic rock song with its cinematic opening, that just sets you up to celebrate the art of classic rock Sammy Hagar Style. This one was the opening track from his second solo album simply called Sammy Hagar.

# 9 – Oh Yeah! – with Chickenfoot

This very well may be his most underrated band. I loved Chickenfoot. This band rocked hard with a funk groove that Hagar fans had not been used to hearing from the Red Rocker. And of course, that was because of Chad Smith on drums. With his musical soulmate Michael Anthony on bass by his side, and the legendary Joe Satriani just ripping it up on guitar, I really wish this band had put out more music than just two studio albums. It was tough to pick just one from this group, but this song has always been a favorite from their debut album.

# 8 – Give To Live – solo with Eddie Van Halen

When Sammy Hagar joined Van Halen, he was still contractually obligated to release one more solo album with Geffen Records. While Eddie Van Halen was not allowed to play guitar on Sammy Hagar’s solo record, there was nothing contractual that said he couldn’t play bass, and that’s exactly what he did across the entire album. This is a really good Sammy Hagar solo album, and it was the last one he would release until after he left Van Halen. With a very distinctive early ’70s sound fueled by the modern technology of the time in the ’80s, this is a standout track from the record and one that we felt should be included, especially because of the collaboration with Eddie Van Halen playing bass.

# 7 – I Can’t Drive 55 – Solo

Can’t leave this one off just because of the sheer popularity of this song. It’s not easy to write a Rock Anthem that stands the test of time. This one surely does. This one was released on the VOA album. One of Sammy Hagar’s biggest solo hits of his career. The cheesy video adds even more fun to it all

# 6 – Dreams – with Van Halen

“Dreams” stands as the first of three Van Halen related recordings on this list. I love the four studio albums that Sammy Hagar recorded with Van Halen. Nonetheless, I think the first one was their best. This was the song that showcased what happens in rock and roll, when the greatest guitar player in the business meets one of the greatest singers. It was pure rock and roll sonic Heaven. Just listen to the notes that Sammy Hagar hits in this song.

# 5 – Bad Motor Scooter – with Montrose

Sammy Hagar was an unknown when he stepped into the role as lead singer of the band Montrose. The group was mainly centered on the guitar hero work of the sensational Ronnie Montrose. Nonetheless, one could not ignore the powerful vocals of Sammy up front. Sammy only recorded two albums with the band, but those two records would contain a couple of tracks that would become classic rock history classics. This is a great one. Don’t miss this great video below from The Midnight Special. Look how young Sammy is here. Every single musician in this group was killer.

# 4 – Heavy Metal – Solo

Sammy Hagar’s track “Heavy Metal” was first released on the soundtrack to the stunning art film Heavy Metal. It just fit perfectly in the scene that it was placed in. There were so many legendary bands on this soundtrack, including Sabbath, Journey, Cheap Trick, Blue Oyster Cult, Grand Funk Railroad, and Stevie Nicks, to name a few. Yet the opening song to the soundtrack on the album was Sammy. Now that’s what I call respect!

# 3 – There’s Only One Way To Rock – Solo and Live with Van Halen

Sammy Hagar’s solo tune “There’s Only One Way To Rock” took on new life when he started performing it live with his new band. Yeah, you know who I am talking about. Eddie Van Halen’s guitar work on this one was almost too much to bear, just simply fantastic stuff. I can’t tell you how much fun it was to see Van Halen during those days in the 80s and listen to them play old Sammy Hagar songs. Just watch the video below and you’ll see exactly what I’m talking about. For all those people who say they didn’t like the Sammy Hagar years with Van Halen, just watch this video and try to make that same argument. I mean, give me a freaking break, look at these guys rock.

# 2 – Rock Candy – with Montrose

The second of two songs with Montrose on this list also happens to be one of the biggest classic rock songs of all time. Whenever we’ve done a Sammy Hagar songs list and published it across social media, every single reader always calls for this song.

# 1 – Right Now – with Van Halen

When we began putting this list together, there was definitely a question as to what song we could put in the number one spot, as there are just so many classic songs Sammy Hagar has recorded. This one, though, was special. For all the great recordings Sammy Hagar released, there was never a time in his career when he had reached as many people as he did when he was the lead singer of Van Halen, and on this song, it just might have been the band’s artistic peak with Sammy in the band.