Happy Birthday, Sammy Hagar!
In honor of the 71st birthday of one of the most powerful voices in Rock ‘N’ Roll, these are the ten greatest high notes delivered by the Red Rocker himself – Sammy Hagar.
Note – This is not a list of “Van Hagar’s” best songs, or Sammy’s best vocal performances, overall. This is one man’s opinion of Sammy’s greatest high notes ever recorded.
Please turn your volume up as high as it can go for optimal effect!
10 Van Halen – ‘Good Enough’
The first on this list comes off of the very first track from the very first Van Halen album with Sammy (‘5150’) and he makes it count from the very start. The song opens on a high note and gets even higher when you get to right around the 3:55 mark.
9 Van Halen – ‘A.F.U. (Naturally Wired)’
Skip ahead to the 2:57 mark on this “OU812? deep track and you hear why Sammy and Edward Van Halen worked so well together. Eddie reaches way up high and Sammy meets him there with seemingly no major effort. Does he even break a sweat on this?
8 Van Halen – ‘Won’t Get Fooled Again’
On this cover of The Who classic Sammy goes high not once but twice. Check out his high note at 4:33 and again at 4:42.
7 Van Halen – ‘Summer Nights’
This high note comes from the song many VH/Sammy fans rank at the top of their list of favorites. Head to 4:06 and hear Sammy go higher and higher on his way to vocal supremacy.
6 Van Halen – ‘Black And Blue’
Here’s one of Sammy’s finest vocal performances and it comes from Van Halen’s ‘OU812’ album. At 3:06 Sammy comes in at the tail end of an Edward Van Halen solo and doesn’t hold back.
5 Chickenfoot – ‘Down The Drain’
Sammy Hagar is a phenomenon among the great classic rock singers to come out of the 70s and 80s. When some start to lose their vocal strength as they get into their 40s and 50s Sammy shows that, even into his 60s, he can still deliver the goods. Check out a 62-year old Sammy deliver a knock-out note at 6:02 of this Chickenfoot song.
4 Van Halen – ‘Source Of Infection’
Take your pick of spots on this song. Sammy is pretty much reaching for the skies from beginning to end on this deep track from ‘OU812’. There are few singers who can match the power of Edward Van Halen’s guitar playing. Sammy is one of them.
3 Van Halen – ‘5150’
Edward Van Halen said he was absolutely blown away at Sammy’s vocal abilities when he joined the band in 1986. It was specifically three songs from the ‘5150’ album that gave him the goosebumps – ‘Dreams’, ‘Summer Nights’, and this, the title track. Sammy starts to reach way up at 5:16 but he’s not done there. Check out the high note at 5:28 to end the song. As Eddie put it, “This guy is from another planet!”
2 Van Halen – ‘Get Up’
Sammy is pinning the needles all the way to the right early and often on this song but it’s at the 4:14 mark where he knocks it out of the park. Sammy gets way, WAY up and makes it work.
1 Sammy Hagar – ‘When The Hammer Falls’
Sammy’s greatest high note comes from his 1987 solo album ‘I Never Said Goodbye’. He’s going up high throughout this track but it’s at the very end of the song at the 4:05 mark when he achieves his finest vocal moment.
And here they are, in the video below, back to back!