VAN HALEN News Desk reports:

HarperCollins imprint ItBooks will release SAMMY HAGAR’s autobiography in 2011. Hagar will provide readers with those behind-the-scenes stories from his multi-platinum career, things that you always wanted to know, but had no way of knowing, until now, including his rise as a solo artist and his eleven years with Van Halen, after the controversial departure of original lead vocalist DAVID LEE ROTH. During Hagar’s time with Van Halen, the band released four consecutive #1 albums. From worldwide stadium concerts tours to private jets, Hagar enjoyed the trappings of fame and success with Van Halen until he was, as he puts it, “unceremoniously fired.”

Hagar later thrived as a solo act, leading his band, the CABO WABOS, before returning triumphantly to Van Halen for an historic reunion tour after which he set off on his own once again.

So if you want to know any and every thing about the Hag, this book will expose it all.

“I’ve been writing this book my whole life,” said Hagar in a statement. “It’s time to put it between two covers.”

Ray Schweibert from Atlanticcityweekly.com recently conducted a five-question interview with Hagar (CHICKENFOOT, ex-VAN HALEN). An excerpt follows:

How have you avoided many of the pitfalls rock stars often fall into? Did it stem largely from a good family upbringing?

Hagar: "I’m doing an autobiography called Sammy Hagar Red. When you read my family background you’re going to ask 'How did this happen? It’s a miracle.' I came from a family in which my father died in the back of a police car when he was 53 years old, drunk on the streets of my hometown of Fontana, California. It was a small steel-mill town where everybody knew everybody else, which made it tough on me, my brother and two sisters. My mom [Gladys] would do ironing and pick fruit to raise four kids. A single mom - that’s where the heart and soul comes from. Even though we were poor we had clean clothes and she gave us values. My mom [who passed away a couple of years ago] was totally uneducated, she only went through eighth grade, but she had heart and soul and creativity. My brother and sisters all have had good lives and no problems, and it’s because of my mom. Fontana was rough and tough and nothing was given to you. This is where I came from and can brag a little bit and put a feather in my cap - I came from nothing, zero."

Read the entire interview here.