Sammy Hagar is willing to sacrifice his life if it means saving the concert industry
Sammy Hagar has a reputation for sometimes being a little reckless (it’s common knowledge that he simply cannot drive 55, which is actually pretty slow by modern freeway standards), but this is on a totally different level: In a Rolling Stone piece about asking musicians how they’re coping with the inability to tour in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, Hagar said that he would “rather personally get sick and die” than delay performing live because “we have to save the world and this country from this economic thing that’s going to kill more people in the long run.”
It’s a bizarrely noble sentiment, even if it is completely absurd, with Hagar saying that he would die for his children and grandchildren if it meant giving them “a life anywhere close to the life” he has had in America. He says he won’t “go around spreading the disease,” but “there may be a time where we have to sacrifice” and he’s clearly wiling to make that sacrifice—he even wraps up his response to Rolling Stone with: “We all gotta die, man.” Not that anyone needs to unpack Sammy Hagar’s opinion on anything, but he seems to be a little confused about what’s going on here. Him going on tour so he could help the economy and the concert industry isn’t the same as, like, going to fight in a just and necessary war. He may be willing to get sick and die so people can buy tickets and merch and concessions, but is he willing to potentially kill anyone and everyone he comes in contact with by potentially getting the virus? And what about the people in the audience and the crew and the people working at venues? He’s willing to die, but are they? This is why he should’ve offered something a little more comprehensive than a one paragraph blurb in a Rolling Stone piece. Maybe he could’ve written his exact plans out on the notes app on his phone and then posted a screenshot on Instagram?
Anyway, most of the other responses are a little more reasonable. John Fogerty said, “I’m not dying for Donald Trump. I’m not dying for the economy.” Stevie Nicks is taking time to do the stuff she was never able to do before because she’s been busy for her whole life. David Crosby says he’s in danger of losing his house and he knows he might not get to go back on tour ever again since he’s an old man, but he says he’s not upset about it because otherwise “we can’t beat the coronavirus.” Yeah.