Van Halen hero Sammy Hagar raised a lot of eyebrows this week after saying he'd "rather personally get sick and even die, if that's what it takes" to save ourselves from COVID-19 and kickstart the economy again. Now, the singer is going on damage control and attempting to clarify the "we all gotta die" comments.
The full quote Hagar gave to Rolling Stone about being willing to die, read: "This is hard to say without stirring somebody up, but truthfully, I'd rather personally get sick and even 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. 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."
He also added: "I'm not going to go around spreading the disease. But there may be a time where we have to sacrifice. I mean, how many people die on the Earth every day? I have no idea. I'm sorry to say it, but we all gotta die, man."
But today Hagar took to his Facebook to clarify his whole "we all gotta die" COVID-19 stance, saying the quotes he gave were from early May when the Red Rocker thought "the curve was beginning flattening."
You can read his full follow-up statement below:
Hey, Sammy here. Earlier in the week Rolling Stone ran a compilation piece from their Quarantine Q&A series. I did that interview a month and a half ago, things change very fast right now, so I wanted to clarify and put a few things into context now.
I did that interview May 8th when we were already several weeks into the stay-at-home, which my family and I took very seriously, and things were starting to look up, the curve was beginning flattening. So when I was asked if I'd be comfortable enough to get back onstage before a vaccine was out, I was cautiously optimistic. I said, 'Yeah, not too soon. I want to make sure it's not escalating. When it's declining and seems to be going away.'
Big picture, it's about getting back to work in a safe and responsible way and getting this economy rolling again. I will do my part. I stand by that. I employ 200 people directly and when we tour even more. Like everything today, it's a watch and see over the next few months but we remain cautiously optimistic that with the right improvements and safety measures in place, we might be able to play shows this year. That said, as things change, for the better or worse, we will appropriately adjust our plans.
The full quote Hagar gave to Rolling Stone about being willing to die, read: "This is hard to say without stirring somebody up, but truthfully, I'd rather personally get sick and even 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. 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."
He also added: "I'm not going to go around spreading the disease. But there may be a time where we have to sacrifice. I mean, how many people die on the Earth every day? I have no idea. I'm sorry to say it, but we all gotta die, man."
But today Hagar took to his Facebook to clarify his whole "we all gotta die" COVID-19 stance, saying the quotes he gave were from early May when the Red Rocker thought "the curve was beginning flattening."
You can read his full follow-up statement below:
Hey, Sammy here. Earlier in the week Rolling Stone ran a compilation piece from their Quarantine Q&A series. I did that interview a month and a half ago, things change very fast right now, so I wanted to clarify and put a few things into context now.
I did that interview May 8th when we were already several weeks into the stay-at-home, which my family and I took very seriously, and things were starting to look up, the curve was beginning flattening. So when I was asked if I'd be comfortable enough to get back onstage before a vaccine was out, I was cautiously optimistic. I said, 'Yeah, not too soon. I want to make sure it's not escalating. When it's declining and seems to be going away.'
Big picture, it's about getting back to work in a safe and responsible way and getting this economy rolling again. I will do my part. I stand by that. I employ 200 people directly and when we tour even more. Like everything today, it's a watch and see over the next few months but we remain cautiously optimistic that with the right improvements and safety measures in place, we might be able to play shows this year. That said, as things change, for the better or worse, we will appropriately adjust our plans.
