Sammy Hagar: “Here’s How I Met Eddie Van Halen”

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(Image credit: Jim Steinfeldt/Getty Images)

As Sammy Hagar fans know, the “I Can’t Drive 55” songwriter has a thing for fast cars.

He recently got together with another automobile aficionado—Jay Leno—to talk about his collection for the premiere episode of Jay Leno’s Garage.

While showing Leno the 1982 Ferrari 512BB he used for the “I Can’t Drive 55” music video, Hagar recalled how the car played a role in his meeting Eddie Van Halen and, eventually, joining Van Halen.

Check out the relevant clip from the show below. We’ve also include the original “I Can’t Drive 55” video at bottom.

Christopher Scapelliti
Christopher Scapelliti

Christopher Scapelliti is editor-in-chief of Guitar Player magazine, the world’s longest-running guitar magazine, founded in 1967. In his extensive career, he has authored in-depth interviews with such guitarists as Pete Townshend, Slash, Billy Corgan, Jack White, Elvis Costello and Todd Rundgren, and audio professionals including Beatles engineers Geoff Emerick and Ken Scott. He is the co-author of Guitar Aficionado: The Collections: The Most Famous, Rare, and Valuable Guitars in the World, a founding editor of Guitar Aficionado magazine, and a former editor with Guitar World, Guitar for the Practicing Musician and Maximum Guitar. Apart from guitars, he maintains a collection of more than 30 vintage analog synthesizers.