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Sammy Hagar Not Bothered By McCain Camp’s Use of Van Halen Tune

Sammy Hagar was the frontman for veteran rockers Van Halen when the group’s 1991 single "Right Now" was hitting the airwaves for the first time. Since then, the song has been used more than a few times during TV commercials and various sporting events.

Most recently, however, the use of the song by Presidential Candidate John McCain during the announcement of his running mate, Alaska Governor Sarah Plain is what’s making news.

The reaction from the current Van Halen line-up was not a positive one, although a publicist basically said that the group does not intend to use their celebrity status to promote either the Republican or Democratic candidate for President.

For his part, former VH member Sammy Hagar seems to have no problem at all with the use of the song by McCain’s organization. Hagar wrote the lyrics to the song, although it was a collaboration between himself and Eddie Van Halen that gave birth to the finished product.

Hagar is quoted as saying, "When I wrote the lyrics to ‘Right Now’ I intended them to inspire people to not sit around and wait for something they believed in but to go out and get it — to make a change however they needed to. Whether it was McCain who used the song or if Obama had chosen to use the song, with the current political climate, the lyrics still have the same meaning, and we all need to do something to make a difference, every action counts."

Considering the fact that Hagar entertained some Republicans at a party associated with the Republican National Convention a few nights ago, I guess it should not come as a surprise that he was fine with the use of "Right Now" during the McCain event.

Hagar is known to be a contributor to both President Bush and Republican Congressman Dana Rohrabacher of California. Judging by the reaction of Hagar’s former VH band mates, it may be safe to assume they do not share his enthusiasm for the Republican Party.

Making this story even more interesting is word that the newly-chosen Republican Vice Presidential contender named one of her children in honor of the very group whose feathers seem to be ruffled a bit over the use of their music during her big time political coming out party.

Born in April, Trig Paxson Van Palin is said to have been named in the group’s honor. Now whether the Palin family intended to honor only the group that was known as Van Halen during the Hagar days, or the current line-up is not clear. Perhaps they did not intend to make a distinction at all, in which case, they may be re-thinking that decision right now. (No pun intended).

Perhaps Trig Van Hagar Palin would have been a better choice. Heck, I couldn’t figure out how the "Paxson" came into play anyway.

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Tags: John McCain, Right Now, Sammy Hagar, Sarah Palin, Van Halen

Van Halen Ticked Off By Candidate McCain’s Use of Group’s Song

As the political season heats up, so do tempers among the members of Van Halen. In the kind of story we are hearing more and more these days, Republican Presidential Candidate John McCain was strutting his stuff on a stage in Dayton, Ohio with Van Halen’s 1991 song "Right Now" playing in the background.

This time the main event was the announcement of his running mate, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, which was quite the surprise to just about everyone.

You may recall the actions of former Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee back during the early days of this campaign (does anyone remember back they far?) when Boston mastermind Tom Scholz was none too happy when he discovered that Huckabee was using the groups hit song "More Than A Feeling" at various campaign events, and asked the ex-Arkansas governor to stop using the tune.

More recently, Jackson Browne took things a little further when he reportedly filed a lawsuit against McCain for making use of his well-known hit, "Running on Empty" during a commercial that was being used to discredit something that Democratic Presidential Candidate Barrack Obama said regarding the high cost of energy.

There’s little doubt that partisan politics plays a significant role in some of these disputes. Browne is well-known as a liberal activist, and could certainly be expected to react negatively when a conservative candidate used his material. I don’t know much about Tom Scholz’s political leanings, but his statement at the time indicates that the situation may have been similar to the more recent rift between McCain and Browne.

In this case, I find the response from Van Halen in regard to McCain’s use of their material more sensible than the celebrities who wear their political hearts on their sleeves.

Although the group is not making any secret of their displeasure with McCain’s use of their material, and say they would not have agreed to it even if the McCain camp had bothered to ask their permission, a publicist for the group had this to say: "The band is not political in nature, and has not and will not be throwing their support behind either presidential candidate. "

And to that, I say Bravo, Van Halen, Bravo!

For more on this story, see MTV News.

Tags: John McCain, Right Now, Van Halen