Sammy Hagar has learned to roll with the punches, as befits a former boxer turned Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee who in 1995 was fired from his decadelong gig as the lead singer in Van Halen.

The veteran solo star has also learned to stay extremely active, on stage and off.

"I'm about as busy as a man can be — and I don't know why. I'm confused!" Hagar said, speaking by phone recently from his Marin County, California, home.

How busy? Here are some examples.

He's now putting the finishing touches on a new album, tentatively titled "Crazy Times," that should be released later this year. He'll kick off his 2022 summer "Crazy Times Tour" on June 10 in Bridgeport, Connecticut, with George Thorogood opening. It will conclude June 10 in Irvine, California.

In January, Hagar was named the first-ever Honorary Tourism Ambassador of Los Cabos, the once-sleepy Baja Mexico municipality-turned-resort-hub, where he opened his highly successful Cabo Wabo nightclub and restaurant in 1990. he was also awarded a Los Cabos Medal of Honor, in recognition of his decades promoting the area, where he first began spending winter vacations in the mid-1980s.

Last fall, Hagar launched a canned rum cocktail line, Sammy's Beach Bar Cocktail Co. It's a successor to his Cabo Wabo Tequila line — which he sold more than a decade ago for $91 million — and his more recent Sammy's Beach Bar Rum.

Also last fall, he began the first Las Vegas residency of his career at The STRAT Hotel Casino & SkyPod. His second residency there began earlier this month, with more performances March 23 to 26.

He's accompanied at The STRAT by his longtime band, The Circle. It teams him with one-time Led Zeppelin drummer Jason Bonham, lead guitarist Vic Johnson and bassist Michael Anthony, who is Hagar's former band mate in Van Halen.

Their first residency saw them joined by an array of guests musicians, including Grateful Dead co-founder Bob Weir, former teen idol Rick Springfield and Ratt singer Stephen Pearcy.

Hagar spoke to the Union-Tribune for nearly an hour. Here are edited excerpts form that conversation.

Q: What does a Las Vegas residency allow you to do that a one-off concert doesn't?

A: I think that, out of the six nights I played at The STRAT last fall, I only did maybe 10 songs twice. We were doing about 20 songs a night and probably did a total of 140 or so different songs. One night, we did the whole first Montrose album. Another night, we did a dozen Van Hagar songs, and two or three songs from a new Circle album coming out later this year, tentatively called "Crazy Times." We really push ourselves in Vegas, and I love mixing it up.

Q: If someone had told you 50 years ago, or even 10 years ago, that in 2021 and 2022 you'd be playing a residency in Vegas, how would you have reacted?

A: I would have laughed them out of the room! When I was a young buck, trying to be the coolest guy in the world, Vegas was not the place for that. And it still isn't. But I'm 74. And I'm sitting here going: "Yeah, my fans are old enough to come to Vegas now, and I'm old enough."

But Vegas really has changed. Everyone plays there now, including the youngest, coolest bands in the world. Every concert tour stops there, and Vegas has great restaurants, great hotels and some of the greatest shows.

I think Vegas has become a very hip, cool place. But it is one of those things where people might still think of doing a residency there as being for people in the retirement community. Well, hell, I'm one of them! And I'm having a good time.

Q: Asking someone how they are doing takes on a whole different tone during a global pandemic. In the past year, I've interviewed a number of artists who have had COVID-19, including Smokey Robinson, Emily Saliers of the Indigo Girls and Tom Johnston of the Doobie Brothers, who told me that several other members of the Doobies also contracted COVID. So, how are you doing in the midst of this pandemic and how has it impacted your shows?

A: I've been very lucky. Nobody in my band has had COVID. I'm not a germaphobe, but I always wash my hands and I am really careful. I'm a big hugger and, nowadays, I hug with a mask (on). It's horrible, if you want my opinion. It (expletive) stinks, and I hate to (tell) my fans, "Make sure you're vaxxed and wear a mask," but there is no choice.

Either I say, "Okay, I won't play (concerts) until this pandemic has gone away" or, "If we're going to do it, we have to do what we have to do to be safe." I'm the most positive guy in the world, and this (pandemic) is so disheartening. Everyone tells me I should do a public service message (promoting COVID safety measures).

And I say, "I don't want to be school teacher or principal; you tell them." I'd rather just say, "I'm playing a show, and here are the rules." I know that all the (safety measures) are starting to wear thin, but it's even worse when you get sick.

Q: Eddie Van Halen died in 2020. I'm curious of there are any unreleased recordings you did with the band that could eventually come out?

A: Van Halen didn't have many songs that were completed that didn't come out. Maybe there's some stuff we could add background vocals to or that I could write new lyrics for. But I'm leery about doing that. Because the legacy of Van Halen is so great, and — prior to me joining the band — the legacy is pure greatness: Eddie's guitar work, the band's playing, the songs.

Anything left over wasn't good enough to be on those records. I don't care what anyone says; putting out (unreleased music) wouldn't do anything, other than make someone a little money.

But I know Eddie had a ton of of (unreleased) jamming stuff he made on cassette tapes, because that's how we wrote songs ... So, maybe. Who knows what they could put together?

Q: In 1995, you told me, "I'm going to be 48 and I'm proud of it — now. When you first hit 40 in this business, people say, 'Hey, say you're only 36.' And I thought that was bull. But there was a five-year period in my early 40s where I didn't tell people how old I was. Now I'm proud of my age. I'm strong and healthy, and I'm doing better shows — two-and-a-half hours long — than I could do in 1973 when I was in Montrose. I'm in shape now and I know how to take care of myself. ... I'm planning on taking it as far as I can." You are now 74. How much farther do you plan to take it?

A: Oh, man, you're killing me! These are great questions; you're making me think. To answer your question, I really don't know. But I am proud of my age. I'm healthy. I do 50 push ups and 100 crunches each morning. I walk 4 to 5 miles every day. I don't run anymore because my knees are beat up from jumping off stages with a 22-pound Les Paul.

I can still sing every song I ever wrote. I put them in a lower key now, and tune down a whole step, not a half step, which is my advice to anybody with semi-perfect pitch. ... I have good pitch and I know when I'm off. I told somebody recently, "I don't know how much longer I can do this and still be good." Because I don't need money ... it's not my motivation anymore. It was, when I was young. But now, I'm just motivated by doing cool things that excite me, and music still does that ...

If I couldn't sing well, I would not do that my fans. Ticket prices are so high that, if I wasn't good, I wouldn't do that to people. I will not embarrass myself, or my fans, or family. But, right now, I'm as strong as a horse, man!