Sammy Hagar dropped by The Howard Stern Show yesterday for an hour long interview with the king of shock jocks. JamBase has pointed out that, during the interview, the guitar virtuoso mentions that Bob Weir and Mickey Hart wanted him to play with the Grateful Dead at one point.

Early in his interview, which you can hear above, Hagar says, “I almost was in the Grateful Dead! Bob and Mickey wanted me in The Dead when Jerry was gone for a while.”

The rest of the interview deals with a number of other topics, including the possibility of a Van Halen reunion and Hagar’s work with Chickenfoot, a supergroup he founded with ex-Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony, Joe Satriani and Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith.

Hagar is no stranger to the world of the Grateful Dead, having played a show with Jerry Garcia in 1989, as well as having sat in with The Dead at The Warfield in San Francisco on February 14, 2003. In addition, Hagar and Weir live down the street from one another, and the two have performed together a few times over the years.

Relix has compiled a few videos from some of Hagar and Weir’s past collaborations here.