The Wild Truth About Sammy Hagar's Identity | Finding Your Roots | PBS

[@tonypalmentera7752]

I thought when he turned that page it was gonna say, "Roth", like he and David Lee are related lol...

[@robertcarter9056]

That would been funny

[@oakmaiden2133]

It would be war lol

[@alexposilkin9683]

I definitely thought that too!

[@neilsmith9066]

😂

[@BJWanlund]

😂

[@paul311emain]

My daughter was gifted a dna test. She took it only to find out at 50……my biological father was not the man that raised me. Rocked our world. I went from farmer to jones in one 30 minute conversation. The only place I can suggest anyone to start processing this info is Mercy, Grace and Forgiveness.

[@aces2342]

Love Sammy he's a golden retriever. He seems truly happy and content human being. Gosh I just love him.

[@gregfuller9050]

I really don’t like his music much - but I agree! Wouldn’t want to go to the concert - but would love to live next door to this guy

[@rockerjim8045]

saw him in 1980 Birmingham Odeon. great gig. Then years later with Chicken Foot Shepherd’s bush Empire the night micheal jackson died

[@kingjoe3rd]

@@rockerjim8045that was June 25, 2009.

[@garylefevers]

Lol. Interesting point but very true. Personally, I have always been a huge fan of Hagar/Belcher.

[@aldunlop4622]

Man, I love the 5150 album so much! It was the first album I bought on CD. I'm Australian, but I was playing American Football in 1986, and before the game I used to play it on my beautiful powder blue Sony Discman to get fired up. "US Prime, Grade A, stamp guaranteed!" woo!

[@pakababy3710]

He'll always be Sammy Hagar to us!

[@ChrisConnolly-Mr.C-Dives-In]

Sammy said he was buckled up, but he still can’t drive 55.

[@Md2802]

Just like his great great grandfather

[@Ray-qb7tk]

@@D.B._CooperMLMC D.B._Cooper? I thought you were living it up in Hawaii after you bailed out and skydove with all that money.

[@garylaviolette5853]

I saw Sammy Belcher in 1985 or 86 in Honolulu while in the Navy. Belcher or Hagar the dude only knows one way to rock!

[@zaarrd1699]

I saw what you did there, thats some heavy metal noise

[@pisces228]

My husband is a Belcher on his mother's side. We traced his family tree and found the Belcher ancestor each is descended from, back in the 1700s.

[@bherrin67]

😛😂🤣

[@aldunlop4622]

Yeah, what a voice he had then!

[@unclefreddieDied]

Just saw him in FL in july... he still rocks

[@camp44mag]

Montrose, Hagar, Chickenfoot, Waborito, Belcher - makes no difference, Sammy is one of a kind and will always be The Red Rocker.

[@darrenthompson9453]

Amen !!!

[@rayfabris2512]

I agree 79 street machine tour was great

[@bherrin67]

Absolutely, I’ve seen him live several times since the early 80s, there’s no one that can compare to Sammy, he’s the best 🙌🏻🎸👍🏻

[@desireealexander5929]

my fave lil redheaded rocker boy

[@BC99]

His era in Van Halen will now be known as "Van Belcher."

[@steveec9704]

😂

[@mojodojo5533]

Love it! 😂😂😂

[@jesusislukeskywalker4294]

⁠🤠

[@johnmacdonald5483]

Lol😂😂

[@1sandinista]

Sammy Belcher is my favorite Van Halen singer

[@Lehmann108]

Sammy seems like a very chill guy.

[@2sweetcaroline]

I just love Sammy's response. I'm Blown away, wow this happens all the time in real life, deep in American revolutionary roots, this is lunacy, Carl Sagan & Steven Hawkings stuff, my minds gonna work on this like a mouse on a wheel of cheese! What an incredible mind and curiosity Sammy has, instead of letting his ego go down a rabbit hole just jumped into how interesting the information was! Brilliant. After seeing this I have a whole new insight of how interesting Sammy the human being is.

[@PapagenoMF]

Hagar is Dutch or German, and Belcher is French/Norman. I wonder if he's gonna expand his alcohol empire to include wine now?

[@Hun_Uinaq]

Sammy is too classy for just wine. Cognac and Armagnac. That’s what he would do.

[@basher5107]

@@Hun_Uinaq He sold Cabo years ago

[@johnjeffreys6440]

Hagar was the name for an Egyptian woman who conceived Abraham's first son from the suggestion of Sarah, his wife. Then Abraham's wife conceived of Isaac later on.

[@johnjeffreys6440]

@@oldbeergangster2381 indeed yeah I think the Germanic links are fictitious too.

[@CaptainCraigKWMRZ]

He has a huge wine collection. He would put fancy wine on his backstage rider but not uncorked. Then he would take them home.

[@rathiyo5387]

I was afraid he was going to turn out to be a "Roth"

[@srezzy1326]

😂

[@MsJoesmith95]

HEY MAN THAT SUIT IS YOU!!!!!

[@neilsmith9066]

😂

[@loriwatt1269]

😂😂😂

[@dougmclester936]

😂🤣now that's funny!!🎸

[@baranduyn]

Maybe Elizabeth had an affair, maybe it wasn't consensual. There is always that possibility. Maybe it was a one off. We'll never know. There's no evidence she had a continuing relationship with Belcher. People make a lot of assumptions but I wind up frustrated because there's so much we simply don't know. In the end all that matters is that the child was healthy and produced a descendant that has the pipes of the gods.

[@jansmith3158]

yes. Or her & her husband broke up and he went to live with his mother and she started to date someone else with out divorcing. Or her husband abandoned the family.

[@archiesghost9582]

Maybe they adopted the little Belcher boy from a nearby family. That happened to my grandfather - sent to a farm family that could better afford to raise him. Maybe Mr. Hagar was helping his elderly mother maintain the family homestead and traveled in between. Because he was in one place when the census-taker came by doesn't mean he was never anywhere else.

[@3namechangezalowdevry90day7]

​@@archiesghost9582That wouldn't do it because adopting a child wouldn't have mixed the bloodlines.

[@scottfoster2639]

All possible. Statistically, it is more likely she had an affair.

[@3namechangezalowdevry90day7]

@@scottfoster2639 Adopting a child wouldn't produce grandchildren, etc. that contained the adopting mother's DNA. It's ZERO PERCENT possible.

[@ericharmon7163]

My wife discovered a family controversy when she did DNA and ancestry research. She found that her great grandmother had a child that was not of her sur name. She has been trying to unlock what actually happened ever since.

[@MapleJames76]

Man, I love Sammy, he's such a great dude.

[@theninjacat7200]

Sammy handled that like a champ. Most folks have an identity crisis thereafter...

[@algoenespanol]

Sammy's phone: 11 missed calls from a bunch of Belchers

[@patricemitchell1]

The same thing happened and I too found out later in life, and yes the story was taken to the grave. People and their secrets.

[@beverlywilliams7278]

My grandmother had two children by the same man and married another. My other grandmother had 3 by a married man and she never got married. We know who both dads are but there is zero contact with their families. My uncle even lived in the same small town as his bio dad and would see him when he went to town. It doesnt change how much love there is in my family though.

[@patricemitchell1]

It actually made me happy to know why they all treated me the way they did

[@paul311emain]

Amen Patrice Mitchel, Amen.

[@rosameryrojas-delcerro1059]

There is no guarantee that his great granny Elizabeth had an affair. Alam could have left her for another reason and THEN she had a child with Belcher Jr. Since we have no clue what year he left, and if the younger child was/wasn't Alams child, an affair by Elizabeth is speculation.

[@ntl5983]

Right. 🙄 🙈 🙉

[@rosameryrojas-delcerro1059]

@@ntl5983 Sooooo, exactly what year did he leave? Tell me that, and then you can roll your eyes.

[@nicolad8822]

Just commented same, quite a jump to say she had an affair.

[@mmotodad]

Or Alem or any of the men in his line could have been adopted......

[@SirBarth]

Or the victim of a r**e. I mean, even NOW the conviction rates in these crimes are abysmal. What were they in the 1800s.... less than zero, if that? Not uncommon for a man to up and leave because she would have been considered "damaged goods". Saying she had an affair is something else. Like getting rid of a hang nail by cutting off the whole finger.

[@gokhanersan8561]

Sammy is a beacon of light in this world. They made magic together with Eddie and those songs are forever !

[@jasonparrish8670]

Thank you Henry Louis Gates, and your team, for doing this series. I've enjoyed Sammy for decades and hearing his approach to finding family that loves you, even if you didn't know they were there, is what it's all about.

[@steveec9704]

Make no mistake Sammy is the red rocker🤘

[@BAGOFROCKS]

Whatever his lineage, Sammy is a great singer, and it turns out he's a fantastic belcher, too.

[@unclefreddieDied]

Hahahahahahahahahaha I see what you did there

[@trinkabutler9482]

Nothing stays a secret forever the more we know the more we want to know I love this show I want know everything as far back as possible

[@bekindtoanimals2189]

My sisters convinced me I wasn't born, rather hatched. They said our Family still had some of the shells. *They put some in a box with tissue papers around them. Of course I told everyone about the shells, and they laughed me out of college. Imagine a professor telling his med students he was hatched! There's egg all over my face.

[@sarahcoleman3125]

I'm sad that PBS doesn't post full episodes of this show. I loved watching it when it came out, but I don't watch TV anymore. Best I have is playing KZbin while I'm at work.

[@eddangelo4189]

PBS’ site offers full episodes on demand for a fee. It’s worth it if you like a lot of their shows

[@sylphofthewildwoods5518]

​@@eddangelo4189 Thanks, I had forgotten about that! I just love a lot of PBS shows and I don't watch tv anymore either.

[@kandacemccall2266]

He's said that "Love Walks In" was about some alien encounters he had as a teenager but now it seems like it's about Mr. Belcher meeting Grandma Elizabeth lol

[@Minabobina007]

Over Covid, I learned I have 14 siblings. My father had 14 kids in 10 yrs with 8 women. Last summer at 82 yrs old, he was murdered. He almost went to the grave with no one knowing his secrets. So many questions we all need answers to.

[@jamesonpace726]

Taz-Well, VA. With an E, but they say it Taz-Well. 'Cuz I used to live there....

[@spacehonky6315]

Thanks for this info. I live in Missouri and always wondered how it's pronounced I've traced several branches of my own family to Tazewell county Virginia and nearby Mercer county (West Virginia-i think?).

[@JoeandAngie]

Went to the Tazewell County fair in 22...16 yr old son played guitar w Wyldehart! Love that area. Used to live outside Jenkins over the mountain.

[@JoeandAngie]

@@spacehonky6315 it's like steppin back in time in some areas. Beautiful country. Tough people. Would be a bad place to try to invade lol

[@tal10527]

Yup. Mercer County is NOW in WV. Was 'Virginia' back then. @@spacehonky6315

[@johnnypunish]

Sammy is pure joy! And still Sammy Belcher Can't Drive 55

[@dougmattingly]

Probably best he found out now. IDK that he would have made it in the music business as "Sammy Belcher".

[@timsgotissues3581]

Van Hagar is still the best version of the band. Saw you guys in 1996 (I think) and loved every second of it.

[@markw999]

Incorrect

[@abc-bu7nr]

Definitely incorrect. It's Van Belcher!

[@AFloridaSon]

😅😅😅

[@raidadave7840]

I found out that the same thing happened in my ancestory as well. I found this out when I was in my 40's. It most likely happened with my great great grandmother. It was mind-blowing to find that out. I did get in contact with another guy who was doing genealogy research that I am related to. It was crazy.

[@daveblevins3322]

Sammy is obviously a gifted person, and now he's going to write a new song I'm thinking 🤔 Love you brother 🙏🇺🇸

[@VSVickery]

🤘🏼 Van Belcher 🤘🏼

[@marksusskind1260]

I'm just a Belcher by practice. BRUUP

[@DisMindy5767]

I saw Sammy Hagar by himself without VH open for Billy Squire back in the early 80s! Great concert. Great curls!

[@stingrayofcincinnati]

Why didn't they look for Belcher in the property or census records? I would have thought that he would have been living near by.

[@sarahcoleman3125]

They literally showed that there were 11 male Belchers living nearby. They couldn't determine which one exactly was the father because it could have been any of them.

[@conservativeinexile8474]

There were 11 possibilities.

[@nicolad8822]

She had an affair? Or maybe she was abandoned and found another man?

[@danam0228]

Yeah, affair is not the only possibility

[@MrRufusRToyota]

Probably an OnlyFans thing.

[@sweetladyjane6462]

I have this same kind of family secret...I hope someday I will be able to figure it out...

[@walther9161]

He needs to take a trip to Elkhorn city ky and Draffin county Ky. My dad was friends with a JD Belcher growing up in the 1960’s.. has to be related…

[@brucetifer]

PBS does do the whole show but it’s usually on at 5 o’clock in the morning Finding your roots. Awsome program

[@jeffreywickens3379]

Very interesting. And so the band named changed from Van Halen to Van Hagar to Van Belcher.

[@heidifisk2830]

If Sammy knew he was a Belcher growing up, would he ever be a Hagar? Cant imagine this world without Sammy Hagar.

[@unclefreddieDied]

Yeah... might not have been taken seriously as a "belcher" either

[@arth3102]

He's got material for a whole new album from this experience. Maybe he'll call it Original Sin!👍

[@julianocamargo6674]

Some stuff is hard to understand... You find records, nobody has any oral story of what happened

[@davebelcher7269]

I DIDNT KNOW WE WERE RELATED TO SAMMY HAGAR.COOL

[@eddiemclean7011]

Hagar or Belcher, he's still the best VH frontman. Red Rocker forever!

[@marciaadamson7032]

It doesn’t change anything for me because he will always be one of the greatest singers of rock!! And he is just a very cool guy!!✝️🙏

[@Seattle41791]

My 3rd great grandfather is Morgan Morgans. One of the 75 delegates to sign the Washington State Constitution. He was the superintendent of the Black Diamond coal mine.

[@JacquelineNichols]

am i in love with Sammy Haggar? lmas love people who get excited and express so colorfully... love! GOTTA GO WATCH THAT EPOSIDE.

[@allcapitols1554]

I'm saving up for the Belcher Box Set.

[@courtneyholland6215]

Sammy this is an amazing discovery

[@JoeR203]

Sammy's gonna have to change all his album covers now. "The Red Rocker" Sammy BELCHER.

[@Hillbilly_75]

This is wild because my 4th great grandfather was Isham Blecher born in Chesterfield Virginia in 1732. His son Isham Alexander Belcher born in Franklin Virginia 1769 died in Tazewell Va in 1823.

[@Elon-r4x]

sammy hagar got old and so did i.. i love that guy

[@AFloridaSon]

He took this well. I probably would have wanted to be retested. 😅

[@CaptainCraigKWMRZ]

My first concert. 1977. Aerosmith with Montrose and Sammy out front. "Belcher is a Motherfer!" I didn't get it at the time 😂.

[@r.p.8065]

This BY FARRR is my favorite show ...............

[@rl3293]

I LOVE SAMMY HAGAR! ❤

[@blucheer8743]

Someone finally figured out how to slow down the red rocker!!!

[@johndodson8464]

Au contraire, for Elizabeth Hagar, there was more than one way to rock.

[@chrisfoster9080]

Bob's Burgers needs to make an episode with Sammy as a guest star and have a burger of the day named after him.

[@babecat2000]

I was thinking that maybe have them related.

[@vantarpon6849]

"My mind's gonna work on this like a mouse on a wheel of cheese." Love that Sammy quote.

[@deplorablesunited7168]

I want a refund cuz I thought I was going to see Sammy Hagar play not Sammy Belcher😂

[@JoeandAngie]

"Taz" -well County...like Tasmania Lots of Belchers in SE KY

[@crkmt]

I went to high school with one. Knox County, KY.

[@maliabryngelson5581]

Would love to see more of this area!

[@helenmurphree3434]

Maybe he was taking care of an elderly parent? Every family has secrets

[@markbarry9945]

As a joke, they should have said "you're a Van Halen"

[@09rja]

Why would this surprise anyone? If you map out your direct blood relatives over 4 generations, (and keep the women's maiden name that marry in), your family's surname appears only about 10% of the time. In other words: your genetic soup is largely made up of people without your last name. This is why I've never understood people's interest in genealogy.

[@roccoz2231]

3:58 -- "What a trip!" ...... Tell me you grew up in the 60s without telling me you grew up in the 60s. 😂🤣

[@brunoBEGARANI-kx2ey]

Crazy all the secrets of roots so yes,now It's SAMMY HAGAR BELCHER😂😂😂😂❤❤❤

[@DanIAmIBe]

Those reading glasses are so rock and roll.🤘

[@james7275able]

Was waiting for Sammy to make a joke about being a Belcher and saying something like, well, I always did like drinking beer and Tequila

[@sergejisd]

What about the Italian side of his family ?

[@mcmlxv9827]

They didn't say if any of the Belcher's lived in the same county or near any of his ancestors.

[@mikecronan550]

He sure can belch out some hellacious vocals!

[@wingerfan1]

My mothers brother never knew who is dad was because my grandmother never told him. I often times wish we could've found out.

[@meo8260]

I often wonder if Mr Gates finds that one of his guests is related to him.

[@joantrotter3005]

He did! I don't remember who it was though? A white man, but he's half.

[@joantrotter3005]

I found it, it's John Lithgow from 3rd rock.

[@meo8260]

@@joantrotter3005 thanks

[@joantrotter3005]

@@meo8260 , you're welcome!

[@motomuso]

Hey Sam brother, can I borrow $5000? Signed Bob Belcher.

[@ChicoTheMan69]

A lot of people are finding out about some scandalous stuff.

[@Trapper50cal]

Nice to be related to bob and Linda

[@deanallen927]

LOVE SAMMY! He'll always be a Hagar to me. A step father somewhere along the way? Oh well. Write a song about it, Sammy!!!!

[@don7680]

Wow, didn't see that coming! It has to be very strange for Sammy going his whole life, and being introduced for shows, now knowing you're actually someone else. I think it would very hard to handle.

[@tracezachdaniels4264]

GREAT JOB ALL...THANX 4 MAKING Tee with LIONS NAMED LEO the music worldwide. LOVE YOU ALL...!!!....MUCH LOVE.!!

[@Dana_inc]

I would like to know about my family since everyone else knows!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@Faithful_Watchman]

I'm adopted with very little info of my biological parents that was born out of wedlock. That said, is it still possible to determine my nationality and who my mother and father are?

[@joantrotter3005]

Yes, if you have matching relatives they will tell you. We did Ancestry, and I have tons of relatives, but they keep changing their ethnicity estimates. With some research you can still figure it out.

[@Faithful_Watchman]

@@joantrotter3005: How do I know if I have matching relatives when I know nothing of my biological parents?

[@frotobaggins7169]

Outside of people living today, how would they know what the DNA of ancestors are, especially someone born in 1770.

[@thedevilsadvocate5210]

aDNA

[@slimsantilli4476]

I still think the older brother from The Wonder years, Is Sam's kid.

[@WarofThoughts]

Jason Hervey?

[@dr.awkward9075]

Thank you, Mr. Belcher.

[@ThomasJones-sz3sx]

Sammy contributed so much to the music millions of us LOVE!!

[@Jazzman-bj9fq]

I never would have thought that back in the 80's looking at Sammy that he would wind up looking like Jerry Garcia.

[@sandythomas6133]

I love this program and Henry Louis Gates. It is fascinating to me to consider what it actually takes for all of us to be here now. Our Ancestors had lives and circumstances and situations that led to Us having lives.

[@lasersmith23]

Loved his project band "Belcher Schon Aaronson Shrieve", or BSAS. He's still the Red Rocker!

[@zymmer4]

Elizabeth Baily..LOL..I have Bailey in my line too..They also "got around"..lol

[@jfk64kennedy95]

I see so much inspiration, for a song. Let's hope

[@theseventhgeneration6910]

That's just mind-blowing. Now it seems that I, in fact am more closely related to Hagar AND Bailey than he is. It's a musical family though, no doubt!

[@johnnypunish]

The Sammy Belcher Rock Tour 2024! Yeah Baby!

[@mynameisnotbob941]

Sammy Belcher is capable of driving at more reasonable speeds…

[@Traveler516]

Simply fantastic🎉