Sammy Hagar is paying tribute to the fan who coined his infamous nickname, the Red Rocker.
Hagar posted some photos on Instagram of him with fan John Pruner, who recently passed away, sharing that they met in 1976 after a concert in Seattle, when Sammy was on tour supporting his Red album.
“The next morning, I was checking out of the hotel and John pruner the man in these photos, stopped me and asked for an autograph on the newspaper review of the concert,” he writes. “he asked me to sign it. ‘the Red Rocker’ that was the beginning of being the Red Rocker.”
“John became maybe the first redhead before the fans became redheads,” Sammy adds. “He followed me around the country showing up everywhere. I got to know him well.”
Sammy says that after Pruner told him he had paid to see over 100 Sammy shows, he decided to hook him up.
“I said you will never pay to see me again and gave him the golden lifetime all access pass,” he says. “That was well over 100 shows ago.”
Hagar writes that Pruner had health issues for over a decade, but they didn’t keep him from attending shows whenever he could.
“We will miss you, John pruner and the show will go on without you,” Sammy concludes his post. “I know you wouldn’t have it any other way. Rest in peace my friend and be sure to give eddie a big hug from me,” referring to his former Van Halen bandmate Eddie Van Halen.
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