Sammy Hagar revealed he got starstruck the first time he met Rod Stewart. The “Red Rocker” spilled the beans on his Storytime With Sammy video series, recalling, “Have I ever been a fanboy? Me? Absolutely! . . . I just remember I was always a Rod Stewart fan when I first started Montrose. I was playing in Europe, Montrose was on tour, and the Doobie Brothers were headlining Montrose's opening. My drummer, Denny Carmasi, and I were staring at the side of the stage, watching the Doobie Brothers. And in walks Rod Stewart in a yellow suit, shiny, hair all spiked up. (His girlfriend) Britt Eckland was with him, and she was, like, y'know, leopard skin. They were just superstars. They looked like the most charismatic superstars on the planet.”
Hagar went on to say, “They walked up next to us, and it was like — I couldn't even go up and introduce myself. I was a fan, but he was so charismatic that I was just dwarfed. Denny and I looked at each other like, ‘Let’s get out of here, man! He might see us!’ We were so intimidated. We didn’t want to be around him. We thought he was going to ask us to go get him a coke or to take this coat and say, 'Go hang it up for me’ or something.' Honestly, I've never been so starstruck in my life.”
Hagar eventually got over his nerves and explained, “I have met Rod since then. He's always very charismatic. He's always dressed to the nines. He's got it, man. He's a superstar, and he blew my mind.”
Sammy Hagar admitted to us that although he fell in love with singing at an early age — he's pretty much the definition of a reluctant performer: “I just liked it. It felt good and it felt natural. It's still not comfortable to me — I'm not a comfortable singer/entertainer; even though I'm more of an entertainer, y'know, when I get on stage, I turn into an entertainer. But it's very uncomfortable for me. And I'm always runnin' around backstage, a nervous wreck until I get out there. But, other than that — I like it.”