Michael Anthony Confirms Van Halen Contacted Him About Reunion
With Van Halen’s rumored summer 2019 stadium tour now officially “not gonna happen,” fans have been wondering whether the alleged run — which purportedly was going to feature estranged bassist Michael Anthony back in the band for the first time since 2006 — had any basis in reality or if it was just the latest in a long line of fan-generated baloney that has dogged the band for decades.
Good news today, then, for VH fans who didn’t want to admit to being duped by their own gullible instincts yet again: the rumor had some truth to it! Speaking yesterday morning during an appearance on The Howard Stern Show, Anthony confirmed the band contacted him about it, but that’s as far as things got:
“I was actually contacted by their management last October, to see if I would be interested in something, And that’s basically as far as it went. I think they were trying to put something together on their end, management was, and something broke down on their end and the plug got pulled.”
So it sounds like he’s about as clueless as we all are as to why it didn’t pan out. Either that, or he’s playing coy.
There is also this, which would seem to lend credence to the “clueless” angle: Sammy Hagar recently told The Pulse of Radio that it’s not uncommon for Van Halen’s management to dangle reunion offers towards him and Anthony. Said Hagar:
“It’s, like, every now and then they throw — y’know, management throws — something at me or something at Mike, sayin’. ‘Hey, what are you guys doin’ next summer? Y’know, Ed and Al are talking about maybe doin’ this or maybe doin’ that.’ And I’m goin’, ‘I’m workin’ next summer.’ [Laughs] I mean, they wanna talk to me? Talk to me. Mikey — same thing: ‘He said, ‘Yeah, let me know.’ And then you don’t hear nothin’. So, it looks to me like it’s a rumor. I’m not the one that can honestly say it’s official, but in my world, we’re going out and tourin’ this summer and nobody’s tellin’ us we can’t.”
The touring to which Hagar is referring is with The Circle, the new band featuring Hagar, Anthony, drummer Jason Bonham and guitarist Vic Johnson. Dates here.
Bottom line: no Van Halen this summer. Bummer! Personally I wouldn’t have cared much whether Anthony was in or out — although it certainly would’ve been nice to have him there — I’m just sad that I won’t get to see Van Halen in a stadium along with 50,000 other screaming fans. Oh well.
At least we’ve still got David Lee Roth giving us a steady dose of hilarious quotes.
[via Blabbermouth]
