Over the past three decades, Sammy Hagar [ tickets ] has established himself as one of rock-and-roll’s best-known figures. His history encompasses an early ‘70s stint fronting Montrose, a successful solo run in the mid-‘80s that yielded such hits as “I’ll Fall in Love Again" and “I Can’t Drive 55,” and an 11-year term at the helm of Van Halen.

In 1996, the much-publicized “Eddie said / Sammy said” split between Hagar and Halen found the former solo artist on his own once again. In the four years since, he has: formed his own band, the Waboritas; recorded and toured behind two new solo albums, “Marching to Mars” and “Red Voodoo”; and gone into the business of distributing his award-winning Cabo Wabo tequila, which was originally served at--and shares the name with--his Baja, Mexico, nightclub. Both are titled after the Hagar-era Van Halen tune “Cabo Wabo.”

On Tuesday (10/24), he released his third post-Van Halen disc, “Ten 13,” the first release on his newly minted Cabo Wabo record label. The album title is a nod to his Oct. 13 birthday. The musician just celebrated his 53rd, in fact, and did so the same way he has for the past several years: by performing at his Cabo Wabo Cantina before a throng of fans who make the pilgrimage south of the border each year for the annual Cabo Wabo Birthday Bash. Next month, Hagar takes a travelling version of the Birthday Bash on a tour in support of what he says is his most important solo record to date, “Ten 13.”

Hagar: I think it’s my best record, certainly out of the three new ones since Van Halen. I feel anything pre-Van Halen is so dated now that, without a doubt, “Ten 13” is my best solo record.

The end of Van Halen was shocking. I made “Marching to Mars” immediately [afterwards] and it was just really like a giant hangover. I love that record--it’s probably my second favorite record, and at the time, it was my favorite record--but it’s really just a big hangover record. I jumped into it so fast that I didn’t have time to shed any of that weight and anxiety and hatred and pissed off-ness.

Then I got my band together and did the “Marching to Mars” tour. I fell in love with my band and went straight into the studio and did the second album, “Red Voodoo,” which is basically an extension of the party we throw when we’re on tour. It was just fun, fun, fun. It was my first effort at trying to step away from the Van Halen thing and really trying to say, “Forget it ever happened.”

This record, “Ten 13,” really is, finally, the solo record of Sammy Hagar today. It’s the re-birth. I finally got through all that stuff. I got over the way I was pushing myself … the whole “I’ll show those f---ers! We’re just gonna go out and have some fun” attitude. I was just so determined. Now I’m over all that. I mean, after two tours with the band and two CDs, and now this third CD, I’m like, “Phew! Finally! I’ve made it.”

I think this record is so important. In my whole career, I think this record will be one of those records where everyone will see that. I’ve taken what I learned from Van Halen, I’ve taken what I learned from before Van Halen, I’ve weeded out all the crap, and this record is the cream of who and what Sammy Hagar and the Waboritas are.

LiveDaily: The first single, “Serious JUJU,” might be one of the heaviest tunes you’ve ever laid down.

I know, man! [laughter] Talk to me, brother! Let me tell ya: That’s why it’s the first single. I don’t think that anyone at the record company really believes that that song should have been the first single.

They were wrong.

I know. I fought it. When you make a record, you play the songs over and over again. You spend two or three days mixin’ ‘em, so you run through them 150 times in those two or three days. At the end, when it was all said and done, “Serious JUJU” was the one that kicked my ass every f---in’ time. I still like all of the songs on the rest of the CD, but “JUJU,” gets my ass off every time. I’m goin’, “This has gotta be the single.”

What happened with the postponement of the initial six dates on your tour?

There was a week of promotional shows that we wanted to play in some small places where we could have a private party with some fans, but my stage wouldn’t fit. I’ve got a pretty elaborate stage ... It’s a replica of the Cabo Wabo nightclub stage. I was told by the promoters and other people, “Oh, sure, we’ll get it in, don’t worry about it.” Well, in half of these places, my stage wouldn’t even fit into the whole damn club! So I had to just blow all those dates out because I can’t do that to the fans. They’ve seen the stage. They’ve seen the party. I can’t do without it. I hope the fans don’t get pissed off, because I’m doing this for them. There’s no reason--on my level, with the kind of show I do--to go and do something lesser than I’ve already done.

Do you still look forward to getting back out on tour?

Oh, f---, yeah. That’s why I make records. That’s the reason why I pump out records so fast: I wanna go back out on tour! Without a new record, it’s stupid to go out on tour, because nobody wants to support you. If you’re selling something, your record company will support you. If the radio stations have a hot new song of yours, they’ll support the show. If you don’t have a hot new song or you don’t have a new record, everybody runs and says, “Well, we’re not that interested.”

My goal is to get to the point that the Grateful Dead were at and just be able to tour whenever I want. I can, but to really have the support I need … I don’t want to go play for 300 people in a 10,000-seater because nobody knew I was coming.

Jimmy Buffett has that kind of following. You’re actually becoming sort of the heavy-metal Jimmy Buffett.

The heavy-rock Buffett would be a good example, too. I hate to use Buffett as an example, though, because so many people from the younger generation would be going, “He’s like Jimmy Buffett? I ain’t goin’ to that show!” [laughter]

Right. Musically, it’s much different, but the vibe is similar.

Yeah, it’s the vibe. My fans are so into what I do and we’re so close. We’ve got all these inside little things. It can work anytime, anyplace, but they’ve gotta know I’m coming. You can’t just put the flag up and have them go, “Oh, Sammy must be in town. The flag’s up!” [laughter]

Do you think you’ll keep cranking new albums out for a while?

Yeah, for now. It depends on what happens in the industry. Things are changing so much with the whole downloading thing and the whole freebie thing. Until there’s a handle on that, I’m not going to spend a half-million dollars on a CD and have it just be given away. That’s not good business. If I choose to give it away, I’ll give it away … and I’ll be happy to give it away if we can find a way to pay for the expense of doing it.

So it depends on what happens with that. If that doesn’t change, and the record companies end up stealing more from the artists--you know, like making deals with MP3.com and suing them for 200-and-some-million dollars and then not sharing that money with the artists? "Wait a minute. How did you sue them? They were stealing the artists’ music! They weren’t stealing your f---ing music! But you sue them, you get the money and then you don’t pay the artists?” If things like that keep happening, it’s enough to run me out of the recording industry. I’d probably make records for myself and let people just download them for free from my website. I don’t like all the big business of the recording industry, so that’s the only thing that would make me stop making records. It wouldn’t be because I’m tired of doing it. I love doing it.

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