Sammy Hagar has revealed that his latest single came together under truly remarkable circumstances—co-written in a dream with none other than the late guitar legend Eddie Van Halen.
The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer is set to release his brand-new solo track, “Encore, Thank You, Goodnight,” on April 25th via Big Machine Rock. Co-written alongside guitar virtuoso Joe Satriani and inspired by a vivid dream, the song blends heartfelt lyrics with powerful rock instrumentation. It will be available on all major streaming platforms, accompanied by a lyric video on YouTube.
“I had a dream and Eddie came to the dream and showed me a song,” Hagar revealed. “I start singing in the dream. I woke up and I said ‘I gotta remember what I was singing.’ And I remembered it and I showed Joe and he finished it. It’s called ‘Encore, Thank You, Goodnight’.”
Sharing more details, he told Ultimate Classic Rock: “About two months ago, I had this dream and Eddie came. He’s going, ‘Man, let’s write some music!’ I said, ‘Yeah, f**k it, man. Here, let’s go!’
“[Eddie] did this harmonic thing and he slid it up to a chord, like a slide guitar. We wrote a song with that lick. I remembered it. I got up in the morning and I wrote the song. I used the lick that he showed me in the song.”
“This song is my final bow to that part of my life,” Hagar previously explained. “It’s not meant to be anything more than a ‘thank you’ — with love, with respect, and with one hell of a guitar solo.” Hagar also shared that Satriani‘s contribution to the track brought a unique emotional energy. “Joe was the perfect partner to help me shape the sound — he brought in that big, emotional, guitar-driven energy that feels like Eddie‘s spirit but is entirely of Joe‘s creation. With Michael Anthony‘s thundering bass and stellar VAN HALEN-esque background vocals and Kenny Aronoff‘s relentlessly powerful driving rhythms, the song really came together on all levels.”
The official “Encore, Thank You, Goodnight” music video, helmed by ZZ Satriani, premieres live on April 27th during Hagar‘s Stagecoach festival headlining performance (Palomino Stage) and globally on YouTube. Following that, the new song will be performed live for the first time on April 30th at the opening night of their Las Vegas residency at Dolby Live at Park MGM.
