“It was more like a whimper, the way everything ended”: Michael Anthony claims that before his death, Eddie Van Halen was planning a huge Van Halen reunion tour
Michael Anthony says his one regret is how things ended between him and Van Halen, and that he wishes they’d have gone out with a bang.
Anthony – who played bass in Van Halen and was replaced by Eddie Van Halen’s son, Wolfgang – left the outfit in 2006. Though Anthony joined fellow ex-Van Halen member Sammy Hagar on his recent Best Of All Worlds tour and Las Vegas residency, he didn’t actually get a chance to make amends with Eddie before his passing in 2020.
READ MORE: “Oh man, I’ve really been playing a lot of cello!”: Sammy Hagar claims Eddie Van Halen was spending a lot of time playing an instrument that wasn’t guitar before he died
During an episode of Get On The Bus, Anthony says (via Ultimate Classic Rock): “The only regret that I have is how things, unfortunately, turned out for Van Halen. It should have gone out with a fricking bang that shook the world, and it was more like a whimper, the way everything ended.”
He continues, “Unfortunately Eddie and I never [made amends]. We had some issues, and I’m sure that if he had not passed when he did that we would’ve reconciled or we would’ve really calmed all that stuff down, because I did hear, and I’ve talked to Wolfgang about it, that they were planning on coming to all of us and putting together a big reunion tour with all of us.
“And at that point in Ed’s life, I think he was a little bit more, like, ‘Hey, the past is the past. Let’s all… ‘Fricking water under the bridge,’ that whole bit,” he says. “But, unfortunately, it was not to be.”
Last year, Anthony spoke of his bond with Wolfgang in an interview with Sally Steele, and said that building a friendship with him offered him some “closure” on his disagreements with Eddie. He also clarified that he held no grudges against Wolfgang for taking his position within the band.
“We’ve always been friends,” he said. “Eddie, he wanted to play with his son. The way I kind of feel is that Wolfgang probably wasn’t excited, really, about being in Van Halen.”
He added, “That’s why in his band, he doesn’t play any Van Halen, ’cause he wants to carve out his own niche. But just to be able to get up and play with his father, I can totally understand that.”
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