Van Halen's record label Warner Brothers wanted the band to change their name after Sammy Hager joined the group following the departure of David Lee Roth in 1985, but the singer says he would have been embarrassed if Van Halen changed their name to "Van Hagar."
It was longtime Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony who recently revealed in a radio show that Warner Brothers wanted to change the name of the band.
Hagar was part of a meeting in which the band discussed adopting a new moniker to go along with their new frontman.
In an interview with 95.5 KLOS, Hagar was asked if he went with the decision to keep the Van Halen brand name.
Hagar replied, "I was a hundred percent on board with it. It was Van Halen with a new singer. I would have been embarrassed to be Van Hagar. I would have said, 'Let's just change it back to [Van Halen's original name] Mammoth' or something — go back to the beginning."
All four studio albums that Hagar recorded with the band were U.S. chart toppers.
(Photo: Weatherman90)
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