Sammy Hagar Plans Final Van Halen Shows and Teases Space Opera Project

LAS VEGAS - If you want to catch Sammy Hagar's Best of All Worlds tour, you may need to act soon. His five-show residency in Las Vegas could be your last chance.

The tour, which began in 2024, features Hagar with longtime bandmates Michael Anthony and Joe Satriani. The shows highlight Hagar's decade as Van Halen's lead singer, with most of the setlist coming from the band's four studio albums released during his tenure.

After two years, Hagar says he is ready to move on.

"I'm kinda done with being the Van Halen guy," Hagar told SiriusXM's Eddie Trunk this week. "I'll always keep some of it in my show. Originally, the Best of All Worlds tour with Joe Satriani was supposed to be just once, in 2024. But it was so successful that we got the Las Vegas residency, which is what I really wanted."

During the residency, Hagar said he can play more songs from his 50-year career, not just the biggest hits.

"When you're on tour, you only get one shot in each city, so you focus on the most popular songs," he said. "The residency lets me dig into Montrose, the Red Album, the Red Rocker era, pre-Van Halen, the Geffen years. I want to do more than just Van Halen. Mike and I kind of have to play those songs, and I like it, but I owe my old fans more than that."

Hagar also wants to tackle another project.

"I want to do my science fiction show. I don't know how many shows I have left," he said. "I wrote a space opera when I left Montrose in 1975. Every album I did had a space song on it - 'Silver Lights,' 'Someone Out There,' 'Space Station 5,' 'Space Age Sacrifice.' 'Crack in the World' predicted what's going on in 2025. I don't know where that came from. In Van Halen, 'Love Walks In' was part of that. These are all part of my rock opera, and I want to do it. Not as a play, but as a production in small rooms, playing the whole thing from 'Hot Rock' to 'Silver Lights.' It's a concept show. People can figure out what I'm saying."

Hagar said fans should not expect these projects to happen right away. He plans to take a break after this year's annual birthday bash.

"I'm taking a long break," he told Trunk. "I'm going to figure out what I want to do next year. No tour next year as of now. It won't be a Best of All Worlds-type tour. I'll figure it out. I'm going to be 80 years old next year. I never thought that was possible. I've only got so many miles left on my tires, and I don't want to have a blowout on the freeway."