Jason Bonham has shared his disappointment on social media about being let go from Sammy Hagar’s band.
Hagar recently posted a video on Instagram about the ‘big announcement’ he had talked about earlier in the week — ‘The Best of All Worlds Stays in Vegas – The Las Vegas Residency.’ While fans were happy about the Vegas shows, Jason Bonham wasn’t.
The drummer commented under the post: “I had always planned to come back once mom was better. She is home now so I was always supposed to be doing more shows but he decided to use Kenny. I gotta say I was devastated after doing 25 of those big shows this summer then holding dates in April / May July Aug for Sam to be let go was heartbreaking.”
Bonham had already said that it wasn’t his decision to leave the band, but that he was told to leave. He explained what happened in an interview a few days ago: “Sammy rang me awhile ago. He was asking about my mom, but then he said, ‘Y’know, I’m not gonna do much next year,’ blah, blah blah, ‘and I’m gonna go with Kenny.’ I was a little shocked, I must say. I’d be lying to you if I wasn’t a little sad, because we were on fire at the end of the tour. And I got a little upset. That was strange, after 10 years of being with him,” the drummer said.
After Bonham left, Kenny Aronoff joined the band as his replacement. Aronoff played his first show with the band at the Riverbend Music Center in Cincinnati on August 27. During the concert, Hagar dedicated the performance to Bonham and his family. The band played a set full of Van Halen songs that night.
