Sammy Hagar has recalled a botched attempt to copy Rod Stewart's showmanship early in his career, an anecdote that highlights how the rock frontman's confidence occasionally outpaced his stagecraft during his formative years with Montrose. The story underlines that Hagar's development as a performer, later showcased in Montrose and Van Halen, came with painful trial and error rather than natural stage polish from the outset.

Hagar explained that as a young fan of Stewart's, he tried to mimic the singer's trick of twirling and throwing his three-legged microphone stand during a Montrose show, only for the heavy end to strike bassist Bill Church on the head. The blow reportedly knocked Church unconscious, with blood pouring from the injury, effectively ending the performance before it had properly begun. Hagar, who was still in his early 20s at the time, said the incident taught him a lasting lesson about the risks of copying other performers' stage moves rather than developing his own.