The Red Rocker Cashes In

by Dale Nixon

Poor Sammy Hagar. Reportedly snubbed by the multi-million dollar Van Halen reunion which may or may not be happening this fall...

Forced to open for a wig-wearing, pre-Howard Stern replacement David Lee Roth on a shed tour a few years back.

Multiple-count fashion victim in a countless number of lip-synched 80's hard rock videos.

You couldn't blame the guy if he booked the SS Minnow, bought a case of tequila at the duty-free shop and took the three-hour tour that never ends.

But to put a lemon twist on the old axiom, it's better red than dead for the self-proclaimed Red Rocker.

Somehow ol' Sammy has managed to cash in his B-list rocker status and cash up a check for $80 million from the Italian Campari-Skyy Spirits Group for an 80-percent stake in his Cabo Wabo Tequila operation. Hagar will hold the remaining 20-percent and continue as the public face of the brand as plans are laid to expand in an international direction.

Eighty million spacebucks for a guy whose best-known (though not best) song is I Can't Drive 55. That many pesos will pay for a lot of speeding tickets.

“Hey, I'm a great singer. I'm a great guitar player. I'm a great songwriter. I'm a great performer," Hager understated to Business Week. "But I also have a great tequila that's maybe better than any of that stuff. I'm more proud of it than anything. And it's gotten such attention that my ego is saying I want the whole world to taste this tequila.”

Rockstar plus authentic Mexican tequila plus market share equals profits in the rapidly expanding marketing world of international spirits.

"Sammy has done a fantastic job building the brand, so we are going to obviously spend time with him and work with him to continue our efforts to take the brand to an even larger level, both here in the U.S. and, more important, globally," said Gerry Ruvo, president and CEO of Skyy Spirits.

Ruvo said that Skyy considered Great Britain, Spain, Australia, Southeast Asia, Japan, Germany and Italy as key expansion markets for tequila. Cabo Wabo reportedly sold 147,000 cases in North America last year, making it the second highest-selling premium tequila brand (Patron holds the top spot).

All in all, it sounds like a pretty good deal for Sam. Especially when you consider he won't have to share the stage with Diamond Dave or little Wolfgang.

Rock on.