On This Day in 1985, Van Halen Introduced Their New Frontman to 80,000 Fans at a Historic Willie Nelson Benefit Concert

On this day (September 22) in 1985, the first annual Farm Aid concert took place at the Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Illinois. Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp, and Neil Young organized the event to benefit family farms in the United States. The lineup for the inaugural event was full of legendary acts, including Alabama, the Beach Boys, Bob Dylan, Merle Haggard, Waylon Jennings, and Loretta Lynn. Sammy Hagar, who had just joined Van Halen, was also on the bill. He was supposed to announce that he’d joined the band during the show, but things didn’t go as planned.

Dylan planted the seed for Farm Aid during his Live Aid performance. He mentioned raising money for small American farms during his set. Nelson, Young, and Mellencamp agreed with his sentiments and soon began bringing the idea to life. According to the Farm Aid website, the first concert raised more than $9 million for farmers. Subsequent installments have raised more than $90 million in total.

[RELATED: 3 Van Halen Songs That Took the 1980s Rock World by Storm]

The first Farm Aid was almost the site of a major moment in rock history for another reason. However, Hagar botched the big announcement.

Sammy Hagar Played with Van Halen at Farm Aid

Sammy Hagar was already slated to perform at Farm Aid before he replaced David Lee Roth in Van Halen. The event was being broadcast live on TV and radio. So, it was the perfect place for him to share the news with the world. However, as he put it in his 2012 memoir, Red: My Uncensored Life in Rock, Hagar “screwed everything up.”

He opened his set with “There’s Only One Way to Rock” in front of 90,000 screaming fans. He got a little overexcited before he continued the set with his signature tune “I Can’t Drive 55.” While introducing it, he said, “Here’s a song for all you tractor-pulling motherf***ers!” That would have been fine if not for the live broadcast.

“Instantly, they shut down the radio broadcast and turned the live TV feed off,” he wrote. “I ruined everything. When I brought Eddie, we were long off the air, and nobody saw or heard a thing.”

They went forward with the rest of the plan. Van Halen joined Hagar for a cover of Van Halen’s “Rock and Roll.’ Fortunately, there’s footage of their first public performance.

Featured Image by Paul Natkin/Getty Images

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