Sammy Hagar Explains Jason Bonham's Emergency

09-05-2024

Sammy Hagar explained why Jason Bonham was forced to leave the Best Of All Worlds Tour in a new interview with St. Louis radio station KSHE 93. The son of Led Zeppelin legend John Bonham had a family emergency back in the UK that made him miss the final four shows of the tour, where Kenny Aronoff stepped in to fill in.

Hagar shared in the interview that Jason's mother suffered a stroke and went into a coma, and Bonham's family went to the UK. Sammy said that Jason "held out for two or three days, and he says, 'I gotta go. I gotta go.' I said, 'You go. Go.'

"So, we told Kenny. He had about 24-hour notice. And he came in the first night. He got there at six in the morning. We played that night in Cincinnati. And he did a 90-percent perfect show. I swear to you, I make more mistakes every night than he did. So that's big hats off to this guy."

Aronoff may be playing more shows with Hagar, Michael Anthony and Joe Satriani in the near future. Sammy explained, "The [U.S.] tour is over now, but we're going to Japan. And if Jason is still with his mom, he's gotta be there till she either comes through or... whatever. I shouldn't be talking about his personal business, but he's got a medical emergency with his mother. You don't ignore that.

"We got Kenny, thank God. And if we have to go to Japan with him, we'll go to Japan. I just love playing with him 'cause he's so enthusiastic. He's the most enthusiastic guy. 'Oh man, we're gonna kill it. Oh, don't worry about me.' He's, like, foaming at the mouth. He's crazy."