Sammy Hagar and Rick Springfield

Having experimented with a few different bands during high school, Hagar became involved with hard rock band Montrose in 1973 as they released their debut and second album. Although the debut album wasn’t a major success in their home territory, it struck a chord across the pond and saw the band’s popularity sky rocket. During his time in Montrose, Hagar wrote his first song “Bad Motor Scooter” which featured on the first album.

Two years later Hagar parted ways with Montrose and focussed on his solo career and in 1976 released his debut album “Nine on a Ten Scale” through Capitol Records. The album featured tracks penned by Van Morrison and Fleetwood Mac’s Bob Welch and contained songs like “Keep on Rockin’”, “China” and “Flamingos Fly”. Under the wings of A&R man and producer Carter, Hagar released three more studio albums with Capitol until contrasting creative differences saw him part ways with the label.

Moving to new label Geffen saw Hagar achieve major success with the release of his 1982 album “Standing Hampton” which featured the hit singles “There’s Only One to Rock” and “I Can’t Drive 55” which would become his signature tunes. The album peaked at number 28 in the US charts and certified platinum.

More success would follow as he joined Van Halen line up in 1985 and the release of their seventh album “5150” the following year saw the band storm the charts as it went platinum six times over. The next three album releases would see the band clinch the number one spot again and again.

As no stranger to forming super-groups such as HSAS and Los Tres Gusanas, in 2008 Hagar along with Van Halen’s bassist Michael Anthony, joined forces with Red Hot Chilli Peppers drummer Chad Smith and guitar genius Joe Satriani formed Chickenfoot.

Not content with being a seasoned rock star, Hagar has turned his hand at other ventures with his own nightclub, bar and restaurant, producing his own tequila and rum spirits and on top of all that owns one of the most successful mountain bike shops in California. A true rocker through and through, Sammy Hagar’s legacy lives on.

With a tumultuous childhood spent in both Australia and England due to his father’s military stationing, Springfield’s musical history began in a number of local rock bands. The singer was invited to join the group Rockhouse in 1968, which changed its name to MPD Ltd, and later joined the pink satin clad group Zoot. A favourite among mainly young teens, Zoot became one of the most popular Australian groups until 1971 when the band broke up.

Springfield then went solo and earned his first major hit with “Speak to the Sky” however was followed by a period of stagnation, thus the singer turned his hand to acting. In 1981 Springfield was awarded the role of Dr. Noah Drake on the TV show General Hospital, catapulting him to stardom and paving the way for his debut album on RCA “Working Class Dog”. Featuring the singles “Jessie’s Girl” and “I’ve Done Everything for You” the album rocketed to chart success and earned the singer a Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance.

The singer’s subsequent album “Success Hasn’t Spoiled Me Yet” was released the year after in 1982 aided by the hit single “Don’t Talk to Strangers”. 1983’s “Living in Oz” repeated the tried-and-tested pop release again to much the same results, the album peaked at No. 9 on the Billboard 200 and spawned the Top 10 single “Affair of the Heart”.

Springfield made his big screen debut in the 1984 film “Hard to Hold”, which the singer wrote much of the soundtrack for, and which resulted in Springfield’s last Top 10 hit with the single “Love Somebody”. The singer-songwriter went on to release a string of new albums including 1999’s “Karma”, 2004’s “Shock/Denial/Anger/Acceptance”, 2005’s “Day After Yesterday”, 2007’s “Christmas with You” and 2008’s “Venus in Overdrive”, all of which failed to live up to the singer’s earlier releases. In 2012 he signed with Universal’s Hip-O label through which he released the album “For the End of the World”.