Why Sammy Hagar Replaced Jason Bonham In Best Of All Worlds Band

11-24-2024

Sammy Hagar has explained his reasoning for not bringing Jason Bonham back into the band for his upcoming Best Off All Worlds Las Vegas Residency and instead keeping acclaimed drummer Kenny Aronoff in the group.

Aronoff was called in to replace Bonham for the final dates of The Best Of All Worlds Summer Tour after Bonham was forced to leave the trek early due to his mother's illness.

The tour was launched by Sammy to celebrate the music and the legacy of his former band Van Halen. The group features his former Van Halen bandmate Michael Anthony, as well as guitar virtuoso Joe Satriani.

Hagar spoke to Rolling Stone about the upcoming residency and explained why he decided to stick with Aronoff for the shows, "There's two reasons.

"Number one, he's one of the greatest drummers on the planet. I think he's been on more million-selling records than any musician in the world. And he did so well on this tour, and he plays with Joe on a full-time basis.

"And he blew my mind. I played with Kenny in Chickenfoot, and he blew my mind then too, because when we auditioned him, he learns every song. 'Tell me what songs we're playing.' 'Okay, here they are.' He charts them out and he sits there, and he f***in' can read it, and play it with soul and power perfectly, just one time, the first time he plays it. If that don't blow a musician's mind, I don't know what would, especially these kinds of songs. These songs are crazy. They're f***in' Van Halen arrangements."