MICHAEL ANTHONY: EDDIE VAN HALEN Didn't Want Me To Be Part Of 2004 Tour

June 9, 2006

According to Danny Glessner of the San Antonio Express-News, many reports from VAN HALEN's 2004 reunion tour suggested guitar legend Eddie Van Halen was out of sorts due to a storm of recent troubles including cancer, divorce and reports of heavy drinking. Whatever the problems, the tour was not resting well with VAN HALEN bassist Michael Anthony, whose loyalty to Sammy Hagar strained his relations with the Van Halen brothers.

"I've always tried to skate around these questions," Anthony told the San Antonio Express-News. "But the fact of the matter is when we did the tour in 2004, Ed didn't want me there because of my relationship with Sammy. I sucked it up and took less pay, because I thought if it was the last time VAN HALEN went out and toured, and I wasn't part of it, I would really be upset.

"To sign on to do the tour, they made me relinquish any rights and claims I had to the (VAN HALEN) name, the logo, whatever. At this point, there is basically nothing going on as far as VAN HALEN goes. It's tough to say that, but I'm not going to sugarcoat anything any more."

Hagar said he is in the same boat as Anthony when it comes to forecasting the future.

"I wish Alex was my brother and I've said that to him many times," Hagar said regarding the VAN HALEN drummer. "Ed and Al are tight as hell and you ain't going to get between them. When you're with them, you're an outsider so Mike and I were always buddying up when Ed and Al would start speaking (their native) Dutch and smoking cigarettes and getting in fistfights (laughs).

"I don't have a lot of faith in another VAN HALEN reunion. I'd be totally willing if everything was cool, but I'll tell you straight up, everything's not cool."

Read the entire article at www.mysanantonio.com.

Find more on
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • reddit
  • email

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).