10 Best Replacement Singers Of All Time
3. Sammy Hagar - Van Halen
Not every band is necessarily built with having a frontman in mind. Even though some people live and die on having a Freddie Mercury at their disposal, most of the time bands get by on their communal spirit and an attention to detail that few are able to match. If there was any band that should have sunk after losing a singer though, it probably should have been Van Halen.
Since David Lee Roth was practically the mascot for the group back in the early '80s, his bitter fallout with Eddie after the release of 1984 was the stuff of rock legend for any casual metal fan. Even though the chances of them getting back together were fairly slim, things turned a corner when Eddie took the advice of his mechanic and brought Sammy Hagar into the mix.
Although Roth and Hagar's charisma were polar opposites of each other, Van Halen were reborn with the release of 5150, which showed them getting even more popular as the decade went on. Compared to the shouty blues delivery of Dave, Hagar had far greater range in his voice, leading to some impressive flirtations with other ballad type songs like Why Can't This Be Love and Right Now later down the line. Roth may have been the ringleader of the party in the early days, but just because he left didn't mean the fun had to stop.