LOS ANGELES – Sept. 30, 2022 – Today, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame®-inducted, Grammy award-winning singer and songwriter Sammy Hagar releases his highly anticipated new album, “Crazy Times,” with his Billboard chart-topping group, The Circle: featuring fellow Hall of Famer and longtime bassist Michael Anthony, Grammy-winning drummer Jason Bonham and guitar virtuoso Vic Johnson. Produced by eight-time Grammy-winning producer Dave Cobb, the 10-track album is out today, Friday, Sept. 30, via UMe on CD and on all digital and streaming platforms HERE. The vinyl edition, including an exclusive translucent red color edition, are available for pre-order HERE.
Recorded at Nashville’s historic RCA Studio A, “Crazy Times” is Hagar’s 27th studio album and his second recorded with The Circle. Cobb, who grew up obsessively listening to Hagar, set out to create “the definitive Sammy Hagar record” and wound up co-writing three songs on the album and performing with the band on every track in the process.
Critical praise for the album:
“(Dave) Cobb finally got to team up with his hero this year when he produced Sammy Hagar and the Circle’s new LP Crazy Times… The songs touch on everything from corporate greed to the wisdom of old age, but the pandemic is the common thread that ties it all together.” – Rolling Stone
“…one of his most satisfying albums in years.” – Ultimate Classic Rock
“Crazy Times shows Hagar’s maturation, finally achieved in his mid-70s, and that he’s improving with age.” – Riff Magazine
“Front and center we have Hagar’s voice, which has always been reference quality as to what you’d want from a hard-rock frontman – all syrup and gravel and soul. Stick your best pair of headphones on and listen… you can hear that this choice is money well spent. – Guitar World
It’s (Jason) Bonham who kicks off this album driving the lumbering pace of “Slow Drain,” on which Hagar bemoans the state of things, “Watching the world go down.” There’s melody there, but it’s the sheer muscle of the musicians’ playing – especially Bonham’s – that make this, and most of the 10 songs here, stand out. – Riff Magazine
“Sammy Hagar lays into bad actors and bad mojo on his new album Crazy Times.” – Rolling Stone
The album includes 10 songs, nine of which Hagar wrote or cowrote, along with the notable cover, “Pump It Up,” a 1978 song by Elvis Costello and the Attractions. While many of the songs were written post-pandemic, one of the more reflective songs on the record, “Father Time,” was written in 2017 by Hagar when he turned 70 years old. Hagar wrote it while reminiscing on the ups-and-downs of his life. “I turned on my cell phone and it just recorded itself,” Hagar told Rolling Stone. “I had all the lyrics and I only stopped once or twice. I listened to it a couple days later, and it broke me down.” A video of “Father Time” will be released before Hagar’s 75th birthday on Thursday, Oct. 13.
CRAZY TIMES TRACKLIST
- INTRO: THE BEGINNING OF THE END
- SLOW DRAIN
- FEED YOUR HEAD
- PUMP IT UP
- BE STILL
- YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR
- CRAZY TIMES
- FUNKY FENG SHUI
- FATHER TIME
- CHILDHOOD’S END
Bonus Tracks (available on the Target deluxe edition CD and via streaming platforms)
- 2120
- Father Time – Acoustic
In support of the album’s release and Hagar’s upcoming 75th birthday, Sammy Hagar will be live at the Grammy Museum on Oct. 29 for an intimate conversation and acoustic performance from Crazy Times; on Oct. 1, Sammy joins producer Dave Cobb on his Apple Music show Southern Accents Radio to discuss working together on Crazy Times at RCA Studio A in Nashville; starting on Oct. 12 at 8pm ET, AXS TV will host a 24-hour marathon of his 5-season long hit TV show, Rock & Roll Road Trip with Sammy Hagar; premiering Oct. 13 (Sammy’s Birthday), SiriusXM will air “Crazy Times – Sammy Hagar’s Big Birthday Happy Hour” featuring interviews with Sammy & Michael, new tracks from Crazy Times and classic hits on Classic Rewind, with an encore airing on Oct. 15; and from Oct. 9 – 13, Cabo San Lucas will be lit red when Hagar, their recently bestowed Honorary Ambassador to Los Cabos, is joined by some high-profile friends, and the redheads to celebrate Sammy’s 75th during his annual week of Birthday Bash concerts at the Cabo Wabo Cantina.
SAMMY HAGAR’S ANNUAL BIRTHDAY BASH IN CABO
10/9/22 Cabo Wabo Cantina Cabo San Lucas, Mexico
10/11/22 Cabo Wabo Cantina Cabo San Lucas, Mexico
10/13/22 Cabo Wabo Cantina Cabo San Lucas, Mexico – Sammy’s 75th!
Sammy Hagar & The Circle have quickly established themselves as one of the most emphatic and exciting rock bands today, seamlessly ripping through career-spanning hits from Hagar’s solo years, Montrose, Van Halen, The Circle, and with Bonham on drums a Led Zeppelin track or two. Their debut studio album, Space Between, was released in 2019 and entered the U.S. Billboard 200 chart at #4 and debuted at #1 on four Billboard charts including: #1 -Top Album Sales, #1 -Top Rock Albums, #1 -Hard Rock Albums and #1 -Independent Albums.
Hagar remains committed to social advocacy and philanthropy through his Hagar Family Foundation. The foundation uses music and Sammy’s entrepreneur endeavors as a means to give back to causes special to him and his family, mainly food pantries and children’s music and health related causes. To date, they have supported these causes with personal contributions of more than $4 million.
About Sammy Hagar
For more than five decades, Sammy Hagar has been recognized as one of the best and most accomplished lead singers and songwriters in rock music. From breaking into the industry with the seminal hard rock band Montrose, to his multi-platinum solo career, ride as the frontman of Van Halen, Chickenfoot and his latest best-selling supergroup, The Circle, he’s amassed 25 Platinum albums on sales surpassing 50 million worldwide. Along his journey, he’s set the tone for some of the greatest rock anthems ever written with songs like “I Can’t Drive 55,” “Right Now,” and “Why Can’t This Be Love,” and earned the highest respect of the music industry with a Grammy Award and induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Since launching his flagship Cabo Wabo Cantina in 1990, he’s turned a lifelong passion for great food, music and spirits into a thriving and iconic lifestyle brand. A pioneer in the spirits industry, Hagar’s development and 9-figure sale of Cabo Wabo Tequila to Gruppo Campari in 2008 is widely credited as the start of the celebrity-owned spirits trend. His portfolio now includes Sammy’s Beach Bar Rum, Santo Tequila, and Sammy’s Beach Bar Cocktail Co., as well as several restaurants. Never one to hit the brakes, he’s also found success in publishing, TV, radio and beyond, including five seasons of his hit TV show, “Rock & Roll Road Trip with Sammy Hagar,” and “Sammy Hagar’s Top Rock Countdown,” his syndicated radio show that’s broadcast on 90+ U.S. stations. He’s also a #1 NYT bestselling author, dedicated philanthropist, and in January, 2022, he was bestowed the first Honorary Ambassador to Los Cabos, in recognition of his longtime investment in the people and economy of Mexico.
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