Ex-VAN HALEN Bassist MICHAEL ANTHONY Forms New Band With BON JOVI's PHIL X, AEROSMITH's JOHN DOUGLAS

During an appearance on yesterday's (Wednesday, March 22) edition of SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk", former VAN HALEN bassist Michael Anthony was asked if he has any plans to form a new project or band once Sammy Hagar has finally retired from performing with THE CIRCLE. Anthony responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Well, I wasn't going to mention anything about it, but there is a little side project thing that I've kind of been speaking to some people, and might be doing a couple of things with. I don't wanna get ahead of myself and mention too much, but it might involve Phil X [BON JOVI guitarist] and John Douglas, who you know as [the touring drummer] for AEROSMITH right now. I've known J.D. for many years, since he's worked with VAN HALEN… What a great guy. And we do have a singer. I don't wanna mention any names, but a really, really cool singer. And we're recording just for fun right now, some stuff. That's all I can say."

Anthony guested on "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk" to promote his appearance at a fundraising event and concert benefiting Save The Heartbeat on March 25 at Tiki Bar in Costa Mesa, California. Also performing at the show will be Phil X, Hagar and John 5, among other musicians.

Save The Heartbeat is a non-profit organization that benefits those that are affected by congenital heart disease (CHD). Danielle and Jonathan Maloof started this charity after their son Remington was born with an undiagnosed congenital heart defect in 2013.

Back in April 2017, Michael announced the loss of his two-week-old grandson, who died of heart disease earlier that month.

The musician opened up about the death of little Rex Becerra, the son of his eldest daughter, Elisha, in a Facebook post.

"I recently lost my grandson Rex after turning just two weeks and one day old. We are tremendously proud of Rex," he wrote at the time. "In the short time on earth he left a lasting impression that our family will cherish."

The family opened up about the death in a fundraising page with the Los Angeles Children's Hospital, noting that the boy was "quickly diagnosed with Heart Disease" after his birth on March 20, 2017.

"Within 9 hours of birth he was transported to two hospitals and ultimately landed at Children's Hospital LA where he underwent open heart surgery," the family wrote on the page.

They wrote that although the surgery was successful, little Rex never recovered from the procedure. He passed away on April 4, 2017, according to the page.

VAN HALEN and Anthony had not been on good terms for more than a decade prior to guitarist Eddie Van Halen's death in October 2020, with Anthony not invited to join the reunion with singer David Lee Roth that began in 2007. The subsequent two tours and studio album, "A Different Kind Of Truth", featured Eddie's son Wolfgang on bass.

Anthony took a pay cut and signed away all of his rights to the band name and logo in order to participate in VAN HALEN's 2004 tour, which featured singer Sammy Hagar.

Michael Anthony photo credit: Leah Steiger / Phil X photo credit: Sweetwater / John Douglas photo credit: Zach Whitford