BLABBERMOUTH.NET
In a new interview with
Rolling Stone,
Wolfgang Van Halen dicussed his recent revelation that his father, legendary
VAN HALEN guitarist
Eddie Van Halen, had contemplated a "kitchen-sink tour" that would have included bassist
Michael Anthony, as well as vocal turns from both
Sammy Hagar and
David Lee Roth. There was even talk about bringing back
Gary Cherone, who sang with the band on one poorly received album, 1998's
"Van Halen III".
Asked if he thinks he could have gotten
Roth to take part in such a tour,
Wolfgang said: "I would have loved to see it happen. Unfortunately, we'll never know the answer to that. I think at a certain point you would have just had to get everybody in a room and just be like, 'Come on, how awesome would this be?'"
Wolfgang also confirmed that he was "pretty much" ready to retire from
VAN HALEN and leve the door open for Anthony to reclaim his rightful place in the band. "Other than maybe [me] jumping on stage for a song or two, because Dad would be like, 'You got to be on stage at least a couple times,'"
Wolfgang explained. "He kept trying to pull me back in. Not that I didn't want to be there. Playing with my father was the best thing I ever did. It was my favorite thing to do."
Asked if he ever had a personal conversation with
Anthony about
Michael returning to
VAN HALEN,
Wolfgang said: "Never had too much of an opportunity. That's kind of what that whole tour was supposed to be. And then it never panned out. I was really looking forward to speaking with him, and that hasn't happened yet. I'm looking forward to the opportunity that I have in the future to speak with him.
Wolfgang added that he doesn't think
Michael has had any ill feelings toward him regarding his involvement with
VAN HALEN. "I've seen things he's said,"
Wolfgang said. "He's always been an amazing guy."
In early 2019, a rumor surfaced that the classic
VAN HALEN lineup would reunite that summer for a run of stadium shows. This would have been the first time that
Michael,
Eddie, David and
Alex Van Halen performed together since 1984.
The rumors originally started with
Roth, who hinted to
Vulture that
VAN HALEN would be playing stadiums with
Anthony back in the lineup.
VAN HALEN and
Anthony had not been on good terms for more than a decade, with
Anthony not invited to join the reunion with
Roth that began in 2007. The subsequent two tours and studio album,
"A Different Kind Of Truth", featured
Wolfgang on bass.
Anthony's
THE CIRCLE bandmate
Hagar — himself a former
VH member — was the first to publicly confirm that
Michael was contacted in 2018 by
VAN HALEN's management about reuniting with the group for a tour.
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.
During a June 2019 appearance on
SiriusXM's
"Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk", the former
VAN HALEN bassist — who spent much of the last few years on the road with
SAMMY HAGAR & THE CIRCLE — confirmed that he was approached by
VAN HALEN's management two years ago about re-teaming with the group.
"I spoke with
Irving Azoff [in] October [2018] — that's when I first heard from him — and he asked if I would be interested in any kind of a reunion, and I told him, I said, 'Yeah.' I was finishing up a couple of shows with
Sammy and I said, 'Yeah, I'd be interested to hear what you guys have going on,"
Michael recalled. "I've got these few dates left, and give me a call.' And I never heard a call back. And then, right after the first of the year, I got…
David Lee Roth's,
Dave's business manager or lawyer, or something, got ahold of me about a meeting or something. And so at that point, I gave it over to our manager, because I didn't wanna start getting in this whole thing — I wanted to do it the correct way, especially after the way things went for me in 2004.
"From what I've heard, and I haven't spoken to any of the guys, they were gonna try to plan a thing for [that] summer,"
Anthony added. "And for whatever reason… I was never… My people were never… They never got in touch with us about any kind of a contract or any kind of a meeting to discuss or whatever. And the next thing I knew, the plug got pulled on it."
Eddie died on October 6 at St. John's Hospital in Santa Monica, California. The iconic
VAN HALEN axeman died from complications due to cancer, his son confirmed.