Metal Anarchy

As previously reported, Sammy Hagar’s “Best Of All Worlds” band recently played several shows with Kenny Aronoff in place of Jason Bonham. Now, during a recent interview with KSHE 95, the frontman revealed that the drummer left the tour after his mother suffered a stroke.

Hagar said the following about recruiting Aronoff:

“Well, I’ve known Kenny for a long time. Kenny has been my backup drummer for about — not just me. You talk to Billy Gibbons, you talk to anybody, they’re gonna tell you that he’s their backup drummer because he’s the only guy that you can hand a setlist of 24 songs and in 24 hours he can play ’em.”

He went on to say it was a last-minute change:

“Jason’s [family emergency] was a sudden thing. His mother had a stroke and went into a coma and it’s serious. So [his] whole family went over there [to the United Kingdom]. And he held out for two or three days, and he says, ‘I gotta go. I gotta go.’ I said, ‘You go. Go.’ So we told Kenny. He had about 24-hour notice. And he came in the first night. He got there at six in the morning. We played that night in Cincinnati. And he did a 90-percent perfect show. I swear to you, I make more mistakes every night than he did. So that’s big hats off to this guy.”

He also added the following about the possibility of Aronoff playing more shows with the band:

“The [U.S.] tour is over now, but we’re going to Japan. And if Jason is still with his mom, he’s gotta be there till she either comes through or… whatever. I shouldn’t be talking about his personal business, but he’s got a medical emergency with his mother. You don’t ignore that. We got Kenny, thank God. And if we have to go to Japan with him, we’ll go to Japan. I just love playing with him ’cause he’s so enthusiastic. He’s the most enthusiastic guy. ‘Oh man, we’re gonna kill it. Oh, don’t worry about me.’ He’s, like, foaming at the mouth. He’s crazy.”

[via Blabbermouth]