Sammy Hagar famously became Van Halen‘s second vocalist after David Lee Roth exited the group for a solo career, but Hagar says there have been other opportunities throughout his life where a similar situation was a possibility, including one inquiry about his interest after Pantera split with Philip Anselmo. Hagar recalled the incident while chatting with SiriusXM host Jose Mangin while sitting in Dimebag Darrell and Vinnie Paul‘s refurbished limousine.
Hagar sheds some doubt on the validity of the possibility of his joining Pantera, but does state that a conversation was had with the band’s then manager where it was expressed that the brothers had interest in him taking over for Anselmo.
“How about if I tell you something crazy. I don’t believe it; I don’t believe it’s true,” started Hagar, before adding, “But Pantera had a manager. This was before I actually became friends with Vinnie. And [the manager] said Pantera, he said, want me to be the lead singer of the band. And he asked me, ‘Would you be interested?'”
According to Hagar, he said he responded “no,” citing that after his 1996 split with Van Halen he wasn’t interested in a similar situation. “I’m not gonna join another band, especially covering for somebody else,’ and this and that,” said Hagar.
The vocalist says he later spoke with Vinnie Paul about the conversation he’d had with the manager, but the drummer didn’t recall it, which makes him wonder how serious the discussion of his joining the band really was.
See more of the chat with Mangin in the Instagram post below.
Top 25 Hard Rock + Metal Replacement Singers
:quality(85):upscale()/2026/02/18/893/n/1922564/857ece5a69962087501ab8.98904531_.jpg "Everything to Know About the \"Love Is Blind\" Engagement Rings")
