Sammy Hagar (born October 13, 1947), also known as the Red Rocker, is an American hard rock and heavy metal singer, songwriter, and guitarist who first gained fame with the band Montrose in the early 1970s and scored a massive solo hit in 1984 with "I Can't Drive 55". He achieved his greatest commercial success as the second lead vocalist of Van Halen from 1985 to 1996 and again from 2003 to 2005, earning induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007. Beyond music, Hagar is a lifelong entrepreneur, having founded four spirits brands and 13 restaurants, and in 2008 he and his wife Kari established the Hagar Family Foundation, a non-profit focused on children's causes and hunger relief. Born in Salinas, California, to an abusive, alcoholic father who was a damaged WWII veteran, Hagar endured a turbulent childhood, moving frequently and working odd jobs before teaching himself guitar on a $40 Sears instrument and fronting his first band at age 14. His early career included seeing the Rolling Stones' 1964 US debut, meeting his lifelong drummer partner David Lauser, and even driving a dump truck in New York after bandmates were arrested on drug charges. Adding to his colorful persona, Hagar claims that in 1970 he was visited by a UFO and two creatures who "tapped into his mind" while he lay in bed in Fontana, California.