Rock singer Sammy Hagar on Friday declared himself done with restrictions meant to slow the spread of COVID-19, the contagious and potentially deadly respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus.
The 72-year-old former Van Halen frontman spoke his mind about the ongoing coronavirus pandemic during an interview conducted by KSHE-95, a classic rock radio station based out of St. Louis, Missouri.
“I don’t say the word ‘hate’ very much, but I hate this frigging coronavirus crap,” said Mr. Hagar. “I’m not afraid of it, and I’m not locking down anymore. I’ll go around to anyone. If you don’t wanna be around me, fine. Keep your distance — I’m all cool with that. It’s not like I’m against that. But I’m sorry — I have no fear at my age about it.”
Mr. Hagar said elsewhere during the interview that he was nervous at first about potentially contracting COVID-19 since individuals his age are at a high risk of becoming seriously ill or dying from it.
“I was still worried about this possibly killing me. And you know what I thought of? I thought, you know what? I’ve had the best life of any human being on this planet. If the damn thing wants to come and get me and kill me, let it be,” said the singer. “Life isn’t gonna be any better from this day on for the rest of my life than it has been. And I swear to you — I came to grips with it.”
Mr. Hagar fronted the rock group Montrose before launching a career a successful career as a solo-artist that earned him a hit in 1984 with the anti-speed limit anthem “I Can’t Drive 55.” He joined Van Halen the following year and sang lead vocals on the group’s next four albums, including 1991’s Grammy Award-winning record “For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge,” before leaving the band later that decade.
Speaking to Rolling Stone magazine in a separate interview published earlier in the week, Mr. Hagar referred to COVID-19 as “the flu” and harshly criticized the economic shutdown it sparked.
“I’d rather personally get sick and even personally die, if that’s what it takes. We have to save the world and this country from this economic thing that’s going to kill more people in the long run,” he told Rolling Stone.
“This shutdown of the economy is going to make that escalate 10 times and then we’re all going to be sick and you can’t walk down the street. I would rather see everyone go back to work. If some of us have to sacrifice on that, OK. I will die for my children and my grandchildren to have a life anywhere close to the life that I had in this wonderful country and freedom. That’s just the way that I feel about it,” said the singer.
More than 1.6 million people in the U.S. have tested positive for COVID-19, including over 96,000 who died as a result of the disease, according to Johns Hopkins University.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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