Back in 1977, Sammy Hagar had a disastrous present opening for KISS, which culminated within the “Red Rocker” mainly throwing a tantrum onstage, smashing his guitar and, regrettably, pulling his penis out and shaking it within the path of the group. In a brand new interview, Hagar particulars what went down that prompted the ill-advised stunt.
As famous by UCR in 2016, Hagar remembers in his Red: My Uncensored Life in Rock autobiography that he was kind of an unknown determine to KISS followers. He had solely performed New York throughout his time in Montrose and, as a solo artist onstage opening for KISS at Madison Square Garden because the band supported their Rock and Roll Over album, that he was met with a barrage of booing earlier than even stepping onto the stage.
So, he had fairly a gap to dig himself out of to win the viewers over earlier than they even obtained their first impression of him and his music.
It all went down on Feb. 18, 1977 on the primary of what was supposed to be 10 dates with Hagar opening for the mighty KISS.
Now, in an interview on the THAT Rocks! YouTube sequence hosted by That Metal Show veterans Eddie Trunk, Jim Florentine and Don Jamieson, Hagar dives again into the small print of that memorable-for-the-wrong-reasons evening.
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The “Red Rocker” tells them (transcribed by UCR), “It was beautiful in its own way because it gave me drive. It made me angry and I said that fucking shit is never going to happen again.”
Someone got here out to introduce Hagar and, as a substitute of followers being greeted with the enduring bellow of, “You wanted the best, you got the best — the hottest band in the world… KISS!,” the group discovered Hagar was up first, which netted a venue’s value of boos.
“They didn’t even know who the fuck I was,” provides Hagar.
He mentions that he opened with two laborious/heavy songs, adopted by a ballad, which was fairly normal follow of rock acts on the time. But the group did not take properly to the ballad and “went off” as Hagar remembers.
That’s when he knew one thing needed to change and quick.
“I just stopped the song and said, ‘I’m so glad they flew in a special audience from Los Angeles for me.’ Then I pulled my pants down, fucking shook it [his penis] at them and then smashed my guitar to bits and walked off the stage saying, ‘Fuck you.'”
It seems smashing the guitar wasn’t probably the most sound transfer, financially.
“That was a ’61 Strat. I believe that thing would be worth half a million bucks probably, but I smashed it to pieces, that’s how pissed off I got,” the “Red Rocker” reveals.
What did KISS consider this?
“And Paul Stanley’s going ‘Sammy! Oh, my God, you can’t fucking do that, man.’ They were freaking out, the KISS guys, and I said fuck it. I told my manager I’m not doing one more show ever with those guys again. And I never have. I’ve went to see them because we’re friends, but I wouldn’t ever try to open for them again,” he remembers.
Hagar then confesses that he’d be open to supporting KISS at Madison Square Garden earlier than the band stops touring for good. “Let’s go to Madison Square Garden and I’ll open for you,” he muses, “Let’s have another crack at this!”
Watch the total interview beneath.
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