MICHAEL ANTHONY Explains His Involvement In VAN HALEN Deluxe Reissues

In a new interview with Matt Bingham of the Z93 radio station, former VAN HALEN bassist Michael Anthony spoke about the upcoming deluxe edition of "5150", the band's first album with vocalist Sammy Hagar, and Hagar's 2026 Las Vegas residency, which will take place in March and September. Asked if he is involved in putting the VAN HALEN reissues together, Michael said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Well, you know what? We have our longtime old engineer, Donn Landee, went in and mixed stuff. Basically, you let the record company and everybody, they got their ideas and they throw stuff at us, and then we go, 'yeah', 'no', 'yeah', 'no'. 'Oh, we love that.' 'No.' And we throw our two cents in. Because a lot of it is marketing and whatever, and I'm not good at any of that. I'm just good at knowing what I hear and see. We definitely throw our two cents in when it comes to that."

Asked if he gets nostalgic when he sees and listens to some of the old VAN HALEN material, particularly the previously unreleased recordings that maybe he hadn't heard in a long time, Anthony said: "Yes, because I don't listen to — a lot of the stuff I won't listen to. Let's say an album like 'OU812' or '5150', I haven't listened to it in a long time, and then all of a sudden you hear a couple of songs and then the next thing I know I'm going through our whole catalog, playing stuff."

Referencing Hagar's "The Best Of All Worlds" Vegas residency, Anthony continued: "Sammy hates that now, because I go, 'Hey, Sammy, why don't we play this song live?' 'Why don't we play that song live?' 'We haven't done this one or that one.' So I'm always throwing stuff at him to sing, but, obviously, I've got to pick and choose in respect to his voice. And that's how we pretty much put the set together to play, in Vegas and on the tour now, to see what he's comfortable singing so that we can go out and, and put on a great show and he can give it a hundred percent every night."

"The Best Of All Worlds" will return to Dolby Live at Park MGM for 11 performances March 11-21 and September 18-26, 2026.

The 2026 residency will reunite Hagar with the powerhouse "Best Of All Worlds" band featuring fellow Hall Of Famer Michael Anthony, 15-time Grammy nominee and guitar virtuoso Joe Satriani, powerhouse drummer Kenny Aronoff, and multi-instrumentalist Rai Thistlethwayte. The high-octane "only in Las Vegas" show is celebration of Hagar's legendary catalog, including the deepest dive yet into his tenure with VAN HALEN yet. The Las Vegas residency represents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see this band of brothers deliver one of the most legendary hits-packed live shows of their careers.

Last October, Hagar released "Sammy Hagar & The Best Of All Worlds Band - The Residency", a 19-track live album recorded during his first Dolby Live run, via Big Machine Rock. The album captures rare deep cuts and VAN HALEN favorites.

Custom-built for Dolby Live's intimate and electric atmosphere, "The Best Of All Worlds" delivers an unfiltered connection to the music that defined a generation. With fresh setlists each night, Hagar dusts off VAN HALEN deep cuts, solo anthems, and fan favorites not heard live in decades. The residency was a critical and box office hit, with fans and media alike calling it one of the strongest rock residencies in Las Vegas history.

VAN HALEN and Anthony had not been on good terms for more than a decade before Eddie Van Halen's death, 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 Van Halen 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 Hagar.

Photo credit: Rob Shanahan