The Time Sammy Hagar Came Close To Joining Aerosmith

But He Said No

In 2009, Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler took a nasty fall off the stage at a concert which resulted in a shoulder injury. At the time, there were rumors that he broke off any communication with his bandmates and was looking to launch a solo career. By November that same year, guitarist Joe Perry was convinced that Tyler was no longer part of Aerosmith and so he told Billboard that they were “positively looking for a new singer to work with.”

In a 2011 interview with Forbes Magazine, Sammy Hagar revealed that he has turned down offers to join legendary rock groups like Aerosmith, Mötley Crüe, Pantera and Velvet Revolver.

“I was asked to be in Aerosmith and I said no,” he said back then. “Certain bands and certain frontman singers are more difficult to replace than others. Steven Tyler and that band have stayed together for 40 years and you don’t to walk into something like that.”

Talking to UCR, Hagar shared: “The Aerosmith hint… came around that time when Joe Perry tried to get me to join that band, and the management asked me to go to South America and try it out.”

“I almost did it,” he revealed. “I think if I would have done both those things, I would have been the guy that replaced the guy. You know, always the guy replacing the guy, and that’s a strange legacy for a guy like me, you know what I mean?”

“The problem is, I would have taken the toxicity out of the whole thing!” he explained. “It probably would have bombed, because I’m not a toxic kind of guy. When the arguments start, I’m outta here. I can’t be in a bad situation like that.”

Still, Hagar admitted that “that was real tempting there for five minutes.”

And as for Perry, he doesn’t remember offering the gig to Hagar.