Classic Rock
Michael Anthony hints that Roth prevented Van Halen’s tribute
Since the legendary guitarist Eddie Van Halen passed away in 2020 at the age of 65, the rumors about a possible reunion to pay tribute to the musician have been circulating and were confirmed by the people involved. The first one to reveal that was the ex-Metallica bassist Jason Newsted, who claimed he was invited by Alex Van Halen to join the band. Later on Sammy Hagar, Michael Anthony and Eddie’s son Wolfgang also confirmed the story.
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As Wolfgang said recently in an interview, with the band’s vocalist David Lee Roth who prevented the tribute from happening. Now, in an interview with The Hook Rocks (Transcribed by Blabbermouth), the classic Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony hinted that Roth was really the reason why the tribute never happened. He even mentioned the Wolfgang interview with Eddie Trunk, where the musician confirmed that.
Michael Anthony hints that Roth prevented Van Halen’s tribute
“You’re talking about Joe (Satriani) being approached by Alex (Van Halen) and Dave (Lee Roth). And then there’ve been people like that. All of a sudden, in the press, I read that Jason Newsted, who played with Metallica, was (also approached). Now I, myself, I got a call from Alex and Dave a few years, a right around that same time.”
“And they wanted to put something together, and Joe was in the mix. I remember talking to Joe a couple of times after that, too. And Joe was telling me, ‘Yeah, well, they gave me some of that album. (They) told me to listen to it or whatever.'”
“All I can say is — I’m not gonna point fingers. But through all of this, one of the ingredients was not, let’s say, playing ball with everybody else. And that’s all I’m gonna say. I’ll let you all figure it out. And that’s why none of it worked. And you’ve read it probably with Wolfgang’s interviews, too, that he’s been doing this past year,” Michael Anthony said.
In the same interview with Eddie Trunk in 2023, Wolfgand said that the final Van Halen album “A Different Kind of Truth” is not available anymore on the streaming platforms because of Roth, who prevented the band from renewing the contract of that record.
Anthony is currently touring with Sammy Hagar, Joe Satriani and Jason Bonham with a setlist that is formed almost entirely by Van Halen tracks.
