Sammy Hagar has shared a personal tribute to the fan who gave him his famous nickname, the Red Rocker.
Hagar’s early success came in the band Montrose, but he was dismissed after just a couple of years. The singer embarked on a solo career, at which point he crossed paths with a man named John Pruner.
“In 1976 I had just released the red album,” Hagar recalled in a post to Facebook, referring to his self-titled LP. “I was playing one of my first concerts in Seattle, Washington supporting that record with the song ‘Red’ being the single.
The next morning, I was checking out of the hotel and John Pruner the man in these photos, stopped me and asked for an autograph on the newspaper review of the concert.
He asked me to sign it, ‘The Red Rocker.’ That was the beginning of being the Red Rocker.”
Read More: Sammy Hagar Mourns Early Fan Who Coined 'Red Rocker' Nickname
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Sammy Hagar often told Michael Anthony that he resembles the late wrestler Randy "Macho Man" Savage.
So, one night during a Van Halen show, Anthony came on stage dressed like the Macho Man. And, thanks to his brother Dennis, Anthony has posted a video from that show on Instagram, saying, "My brother Dennis sent me this clip... I had totally forgotten about [it]...
"When Randy heard about [the resemblance], he had Hulk Hogan bring one of his outfits to give me at a show we played in Irvine, California. Hulk was supposed to come on stage with me where we were going to wrestle around a bit, only problem was the Hulkster had to leave the show early and I ended up coming out on stage myself!! I think I still have that outfit, I’ll have to drag it out for next Halloween!!!"
Instead of Hulk being there to wrestle Anthony, Hagar tried to flip him over.
The "Macho Man" died in 2011 at age 58.
WARNING!!! Video contains expletives!!!