The Van Halen rocker received a star on the Walk of Fame on Tuesday, April 30

Rocker Sammy Hagar is making his mark on Hollywood with a little help from friend John Mayer.

The Van Halen star, 76, received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Tuesday, April 30, and was honored in a speech given by pal Mayer.

“As you can see, I’m a Van Halen fan,” the guitarist said, gesturing to his t-shirt as he put on his reading glasses. “But I’m an even bigger Sammy Hagar fan.”

Mayer, 46, described how the two initially met, just after he had linked up with Dead & Company, the Grateful Dead offshoot he joined in 2015.

“Sammy’s studio was down the street from Bob Weir’s — he and Bob were already good friends. Sammy came to visit the rehearsal. During a break, I sat down at the piano and started playing “Dreams” from the 5150 [Van Halen] album and Sammy sat down next to me and started singing the tune along with me — the first time we’d ever met. It was one of the most unforgettable moments of my life. From there we were off and running as friends.”

The musician spoke of how he found a kindred spirit in Hagar as he stepped in his new role in Dead & Co., much as Hagar had when he replaced David Lee Roth in Van Halen in 1985.

“Sammy understood my nervousness about joining an already established legendary rock band, and he was incredibly supportive of me,” Mayer recalled. “It’s not easy stepping into a position that the audience isn’t quite ready to accept, and Sammy knew that and he gave me great comfort in his instant friendship, his kindness — and by letting me drive his Lotus Esprit around the neighborhood alone without even thinking twice about it.”

Sammy Hagar and John Mayer onstage at the Walk of Fame Star Ceremony on April 30, 2024 in Hollywood.KEVIN WINTER/GETTY

“Sammy shares his toys,” he added, laughing.

Mayer continued, “Sammy was already a hugely successful artist in his own right. When he was asked to be the frontman of Van Halen, he certainly didn’t have to join another band to continue making hit records. I think the reason he took them up on the offer was for the same reason he does anything — because it sounded like fun. Sammy is driven by having fun. Sammy has the kind of fun that we only dream about letting ourselves have, if only we could get out of our own way and simply enjoy the fact that we’re alive and on this planet for a relative blink of an eye.”

He continued, jokingly touching on the breadth of Hagar’s lyrics — “Even when he is being a horndog, he’s still monogamous” — his bands following his time in Van Halen, and the launch of his tequila brand. “In a world that promotes ruthless hustling and cold analytics, Sammy Hagar proves that living your life with generosity, curiosity and kindness pays off in every way imaginable,” Mayer told the crowd.

Sammy Hagar and John Mayer onstage at the Walk of Fame Star Ceremony on April 30, 2024 in Hollywood. 

For Hagar, keeping busy and having a good time doing it remains at the center of everything. As Mayer said, “Every time I think of him, a thought comes to mind that I’d like to share with you today. Wherever you are, whatever you’re doing, Sammy Hagar is having way more fun than you. Congratulations on this well-deserved honor, my friend. I love you.”

Accepting the accolades, Hagar had friends and family laughing as he revealed “this old guy” often answers Mayer’s phone calls shirtless.

“By the way, John Mayer — he calls me in the car on FaceTime, that handsome devil. Here I am sitting around my house in a bathing suit, no shirt at my age. He’s FaceTiming me trying to tell me how cool some song that he’s listening to that I wrote or sang on [is] … he goes off and says all these wonderful things. Can you imagine, I’m sitting there — this old guy here — going this is John Mayer on the phone telling me, ‘You’re the greatest, man. I love you, man! Your music has changed my life!’ Imagine that, OK?! That’s what I have to put up with, stuff like that.”

The longtime friends have previously performed together on multiple occasions, and have played hits like Van Halen’s “Finish What Ya Started” and Mayer’s “Queen of California.” Before they knew each other, Mayer often covered the band’s “Panama” on his Continuum tour in 2008.

In 2017, the two interviewed each other for AXS TV’s Rock & Roll Road Trip with Sammy Hagar, ahead of Hagar’s annual Acoustic-4-A-Cure concert.

Sammy Hagar and John Mayer attend the Walk of Fame Star Ceremony on April 30, 2024 in Hollywood.KEVIN WINTER/GETTY

Following the ceremony, Hagar told PEOPLE his own version of his and Mayer’s initial meet-cute. “The first day of rehearsal I had to go over because — I’m a big fan, always have been — their studio is right across the street from mine. So I went over. Him and I sat down, he’s just playing the piano, I start singing … he’s been to Cabo, we’ve jammed at Cabo, I’ve jammed with him and the Dead a million times, he’s done my Rock & Roll Road Trip. He did my Acoustic-4-A-Cure…”

Concluded Hagar: “Call John and he shows.”

Hagar’s star ceremony also included remarks by his longtime manager Tom Consolo, and was emceed by celebrity chef Guy Fieri.

“The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce is thrilled to honor rock legend Sammy Hagar for his contributions to the world of Rock & Roll music,” Ana Martinez, Producer of the Hollywood Walk of Fame, said in a statement. “From his humble beginnings in Fontana, California to strolling the Hollywood Walk of Fame as a young boy, he has truly come a long way!”

Hagar was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame with Van Halen in 2007, and has amassed 25 platinum albums on sales surpassing 50 million worldwide.

In May, he’s set to launch Sammy’s Island at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, and Stage Red, a performance venue renamed in his honor, will open on June 15 in his hometown of Fontana, California.

Michael Anthony, Sammy Hagar and John Mayer attend the Walk of Fame Star Ceremony on April 30, 2024 in Hollywood. 

The rocker is currently set to embark on his The Best of All Worlds Tour this summer with Joe Satriani, Michael Anthony and Jason Bonham.

“It’s crazy to think that it’ll be 20 years since Mikey and I played many of these songs with Van Halen on the ’04 Best of Both Worlds Tour,” Hagar said in a statement. “With Joe on board, we can take a deeper dive into those years which will be really cool for the fans, and us.”