According to Blabbermouth , Michael Anthony recently spoke in an interview with Steve Gorman Rocks! David Lee Roth 's departure Sammy Hagar 's arrival in Van Halen.
According to Michael, Warner Brothers wanted to change the band's name, since Lee Roth was seen as a strong identifier of Van Halen. "I remember Eddie and Alex [Van Halen], we were at Warner Brothers and they were yelling 'Hey, hey, that's our last name. That's our career. And we are Van Halen'," the bassist recounted.
Michael also recounted the first time he met Sammy Hagar in person, stating that he had seen the musician perform a few times and that he liked his work in Montrose . “The first time I actually met him, I was in the studio at Ed [Van Halen]'s house, Studio 5150 , and Sammy, I think, was on a break. He had cut all his hair off and he came into the studio. I was sitting there and he came in and I said, 'That's not Sammy Hagar. He's the guy with the long hair.' And we became friends immediately.”
Van Halen's bassist also reported that it took approximately "10 minutes at most" for the band to realize that something was happening and that Sammy would be the new vocalist. Michael said that they played some songs that were almost ready for Sammy and asked him to just sing a little. "And there were bits he sang that, no joke, ended up on the album. The chemistry was just 'wow!'" he stated. Sammy Hagar officially replaced David Lee Roth in 1985.
READ ALSO: Eddie Van Halen didn't teach Wolfgang guitar: "He was a bad teacher"
