“It still sounds and feels like Eddie but you’re listening and going, ‘Oh! That’s Joe!’”: Sammy Hagar explains why no one is better than “the professor” Joe Satriani at nailing Eddie Van Halen’s playing style

Sammy Hagar and Joe Satriani onstage in 2014, both in red, Satch playing a red Ibanez JS1 .

With Sammy Hagar and Joe Satriani presently tearing it up across the USA as The Best of All Worlds Tour gathers momentum, Hagar has offered a ringing endorsement of Satch’s bona fides, arguing that no one is better qualified to play the late Eddie Van Halen’s guitar parts live.

Speaking to Classic Rock, the Red Rocker said there were no shortage of players who could play EVH’s parts. But there’s a difference between being able to play them and really understanding them. He says hiring his Chickenfoot bandmate was the “smartest move” he could have made.