SAMMY HAGAR & THE CIRCLE Release Music Video For His 'Most Personal Song' Ever, 'Father Time'

Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame-inducted, Grammy Award-winning singer and songwriter Sammy Hagar released "Father Time", the emotionally reflective final music video from his new chart-topping album "Crazy Times" with THE CIRCLE. The album, released September 30, debuted at No. 6 on Billboard's Top Albums chart, his second top 10 in the last four years. Hagar, who just celebrated his 75th birthday, wrote the song as an introspective look back at his life, illuminated in the music video through a collection of his personal photos.

Reflecting on the intense personal nature of the song, Hagar said: "When I first wrote 'Father Time', I kept it from everyone because it was so personal that I'd get too choked up to actually sing it. I wrote it just after turning 70 while I was at our then-home in Maui. That house was my sanctuary in the middle of the jungle, overlooking the ocean — it was just paradise. The words 'Father Time's over there looking over my shoulder' just kept going through my head, so I picked up my guitar and the rest of the song just came spilling out. I turned on my iPhone and recorded it. I cried my eyes out after I wrote and played it back. It's probably the most personal song that I've ever written and now, after just turning 75, I'm finally ready to release it."

Upon the release of the album's title track "Crazy Times" in July, Guitar World said, "Front and center we have Hagar's voice, … all syrup and gravel and soul. Stick your best pair of headphones on and listen to the track – you can hear that this choice is money well spent." The album finds Hagar, fellow Hall Of Famer and longtime bassist Michael Anthony, Grammy-winning drummer Jason Bonham and Grammy-winning guitar virtuoso Vic Johnson changing course, traveling to Nashville's RCA Studio A to record with Cobb. The eight-time Grammy Award-winning producer, who grew up obsessively listening to Hagar, set out to record "the definitive Sammy Hagar record." The new album includes 10 songs, nine of which Hagar wrote or co-wrote, along with the notable cover "Pump It Up". As Hagar explained, "We went in the studio with six songs and came out with 10. We ended up cowriting three songs with Dave Cobb and he played rhythm guitar on every track. 'Pump it Up' was a surprise, that when we played back we all went 'that sounds f'ing great'."

Fans and critics have been raving about the new SAMMY HAGAR & THE CIRCLE songs, which have found their way into the band's recent tour's greatest hits-heavy setlist. Produced by Live Nation, the trek hit amphitheaters in major cities throughout the U.S. before wrapping on October 1 in Sacramento, California. Following the tour, Hagar celebrated his 75th birthday at his annual week of Birthday Bash concerts at his Cabo Wabo Cantina in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.

Hagar told Cincinnati.com about "Crazy Times": "I didn't write any different going in. Dave told me, 'I want the definitive Sammy Hagar record.' He knows how writers my age, when you've written 30 albums or whatever, four or five hundred songs, start questioning — I've said that before. Oh, I played that. He coached me when we talked about it: 'I want to hear 'Standing Hampton'. I want to hear VAN HALEN.' I'd just sit in the room with my guitar and turn on my iPhone and scream into it. And he gave me that kind of feedback, and I got into it.

"I went in with five songs. Then I wrote a couple more for him. And then we got in there and we ended up with 10. Every song is a five-piece. Dave cut every single song with us on guitar. And he was so musical. He led the arrangements. He got us in and out of there in five days for 10 songs. Most guys five days in are still getting the drum sounds."

Hagar remains committed to social advocacy and philanthropy through his Hagar Family Foundation. For more than a decade, the foundation uses music and Sammy's entrepreneur endeavors as a means to give back to causes special to him and his family; mainly food pantries and children's music and health related causes. To date, they have supported these causes with personal contributions of more than $4 million.

For more than five decades, Hagar has been recognized as one of the best and most accomplished lead singers and songwriters in rock music. From breaking into the industry with the seminal hard rock band MONTROSE, to his multi-platinum solo career, to his ride as the frontman of VAN HALEN, CHICKENFOOT and his latest best-selling supergroup, THE CIRCLE, Hagar has amassed 25 platinum albums on sales surpassing 50 million worldwide. Along his journey, he has set the tone for some of the greatest rock anthems ever written with songs like "I Can't Drive 55", "Right Now" and "Why Can't This Be Love", and earned the highest respect of the music industry with a Grammy Award and induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. Since launching his flagship Cabo Wabo Cantina in 1990, he's turned a lifelong passion for great food, music and spirits into a thriving and iconic lifestyle brand. A pioneer in the spirits industry, Hagar's development and nine-figure sale of his Cabo Wabo Tequila to Gruppo Campari in 2008 is widely credited as the start of the celebrity-owned spirits trend. His portfolio of spirits now includes Sammy's Beach Bar Rum, Santo Tequila and Sammy's Beach Bar Cocktail Co., as well as several restaurants. Never one to hit the brakes, he's also found success in publishing, TV, radio and beyond, including five seasons of his hit TV show "Rock & Roll Road Trip with Sammy Hagar" and as host of "Sammy Hagar's Top Rock Countdown", his syndicated radio show that's broadcast on over 90 U.S. stations. He's also a New York Times bestselling author, a dedicated philanthropist and since January 5, 2022, the first Honorary Ambassador to Los Cabos, an honor he was bestowed in recognition of his longtime investment in the people and economy of Mexico.

Photo credit: Leah Steiger