’80s Hard Rock Guitarist Dead: Mickey Ratt’s Chris Hager Was 67

Guitarist Chris Hager, a founding member of the rock band Mickey Ratt who later played with Rough Cutt, has died. He was 67.

Hager’s former bandmate Stephen Pearcey announced his passing in a social media tribute Monday. A cause of death was not disclosed.

“This morning I’m very saddened to hear about the passing of our dear friend, guitarist and musician Christopher (Chris) Hager. Chris and I started Mickey Ratt together in San Diego 1977 and in moving to L.A. actually created the band RATT in 1981,” Pearcy wrote. “Chris was an amazing person, a great guitarist, songwriter and so committed to being just that. He went on to create a few projects over the years with Sarge, Rough Cutt, Woop and the Count and our solo project Pearcy/Hager.”

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Pearcy went on to reveal that he’d been recently been “working on new songs” with Hager, promising that “they will be heard.” He concluded, “I’m at loss my friend, we’ve been through a lot together. God bless you brother. As of this time the family would respect privacy.”

Together with Pearcey, whom he’d met in 1976, and a with a desire to “put a real band together,” Hager formed the rock band Mickey Ratt in 1977, per Blabbermouth. Taking its name from the comics, only with an extra T at the end to avoid copyright infringement, started playing the rounds in San Diego before moving into L.A. clubs. Hager stayed with the band for four years before leaving in 1981.

“It was just sort of a difference of opinion musically that we were having,” Hager later recalled of his exit in a 2021 interview with VinylWriterMusic. “I wanted to do something a little more melodic; the stuff we were doing at the time was kind of heavier. Not that it was bad or anything; I just wanted to do things a little differently.”

While Mickey Ratt went on to transform into the hit ‘80s hard rock band Ratt, whose classic lineup included Pearcey, Warren DeMartini, Robbin Crosby, Juan Croucier, and Bobby Blotzer, Hager went on to join Rough Cutt in 1983 following the band’s former guitarist Jake E. Lee’s departure a year earlier. He played with the band through 1987, and again from 2016 until 2019, playing guitar on albums including Rough Cutt (1985) and Wants You! (1986).

Joining the chorus of tributes on social media, Erik Ferentinos, the guitarist in Pearcy’s solo band, wrote, “RIP Chris Hager. This is very sad news. I’ve known Chris for over 30 years! From recording my first band’s demos in the late 80’s at Pearcy’s to playing in the solo band. My condolences to all his friends and family!”