Red: My Uncensored Life in Rock
By Sammy Hagar
Hardcover | Kindle
HarperCollins
Release date: March 15, 2011

Sammy Hagar was once the frontman of one of the biggest and greatest bands in history, the mighty Van Halen. But while Hagar sang about standing on “Top Of The World,” as he surely was at times, making millions of dollars, living a life of luxury with fast cars and plenty of women, the musician didn’t always have it easy. Matter of fact, Hagar spent years learning that money, fame, and hit records couldn’t solve every problem, like his wife’s mental state or his bandmate’s addictions and jealousies.

In his autobiography, Red: My Uncensored Life in Rock, we learn that Hagar began life modestly in Fontana, CA. The youngest of four children, he was raised in a low-income household with an alcoholic father who abused his mother. He later went on have his own family with little means of supporting them, but Hagar makes it clear that he was always a hard worker. It always seemed that the entertainer got his big break in music when he was asked by the Van Halen brothers, guitarist Eddie and drummer Alex, to replace their departing singer David Lee Roth just as the band had come off a winning strike with their best-selling album up until that time, 1984. But while Van Halen was one of the biggest rock bands at the time, thanks to hits like “Jump” and “Panana,” Hagar was already a successful solo artist who had actually made enough money and did enough tours on his own to retire from music altogether. And retire to a life of solitude with his wife and kids was his plan until Eddie Van Halen persuaded him to join the band, and while Hagar was reluctant to accept, his chemistry musically with Van Halen proved too strong a force to deny — the singer/guitarist was ready for the “Best Of Both Worlds.”

Rock legend Sammy Hagar just released his autobiography, Red: My Uncensored Life in Rock, and trust me, it’s seriously uncensored.

Hagar is best known for his role as frontman of Van Halen (replacing David Lee Roth in the mid-1980s) and as you can imagine, he’s got some great stories to tell.

Check out the video here below of Hagar talking a bit about his new book, along with his co-author Joel Selvin.

You may have seen the buzz on Hagar’s comments to MTV about being abducted by aliens. I have to say, that’s brilliant marketing right there, because all of a sudden the name “Sammy Hagar” is all over the net. Personally, I’d rather read about his musical endeavors and what it was like to be part of one of the biggest bands in the world.

The Gold Box spotlight deal of the day over at Amazon today is a sale on 10 classic albums in MP3 format for only $3.99 each.

The sale selection contains landmark albums by The Beach Boys, Boston, David Bowie, the Clash, Miles Davis, the Doors, Prince, Ramones, Rush, and Van Halen.

Note, this sale is only for today, Friday, March 25, 2011, until midnight PST.

Beach Boys: Pet Sounds
Boston: Boston
David Bowie: The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars
The Clash London Calling
Miles Davis: Kind Of Blue
The Doors: The Doors
Prince: Purple Rain
Ramones: Ramones
Rush: Moving Pictures
Van Halen: Van Halen

The official website for Gibson guitars has released what they perceive to be the top 50 metal songs of all time. Gibson.com’s writers and editors worked on compiling the list over several weeks, releasing 10 entries at a time, and recently released the top 10, which declared the number one metal song to be “Master of Puppets” by Metallica.

In some ways, the number one spot for Metallica is fitting, considering 2011 is the 25th anniversary of the release of their Master of Puppets album. Having said that though, metalheads are notorious for having fierce and strong opinions about what they consider to be their “top songs,” on top of their fierce and strong opinions about what bands are or are not even metal.

The video game deal of the day over at Amazon today is Guitar Hero: Van Halen for Xbox 360 for $24.99 (that’s 38% off the list price of $39.99).

Note, this deal is valid only for today, Tuesday, March 15, 2011, til midnight PST while supplies last.