To the shock of millions of fans - to say nothing of the band - David Lee Roth abruptly quit Van Halen after their smash 1984 tour to start a solo career. The group was adrift, convinced they were over. And then the strangest thing happened...

Michael Anthony says:

“Our spirits were pretty low. ‘What the hell are we gonna do?’ We didn’t know. But thanks to Eddie’s auto mechanic, Claudio Zampolli, who suggested Eddie give Sammy Hagar a call, things turned out beautifully. Sammy came down, we jammed and the result was amazing: suddenly, Van Halen was a band again.

“As a vocalist, Sammy has wider range than Roth, so we were able to do songs like Dreams and Why Can’t This Be Love. It was great. Now we had our first No. 1 album.

“Musically, I was able to get more fluid on the bass - I didn’t have to pound and hammer as much. The songs and arrangements were more complex and varied. It was a very exciting time for us. How many people get to hit it big twice?"