Michael Anthony confirms “plug got pulled” on planned Van Halen reunion tour

Spencer Kaufman

Rumors swirled late last year that Michael Anthony would be rejoining Van Halen for a major summer tour, but the excitement ended just as soon as it started when the bassist said he had not been in contact with his former bandmates. Now, he explains that there was indeed a plan for him to reunite with the band but the “plug got pulled.”

In an interview with Eddie Trunk on SiriusXM’s TrunkNation, Anthony explained, “I can tell you, I spoke with [Van Halen’s manager] Irving Azoff last October — 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 [Hagar] and I said, ‘Yeah, I’d be interested to hear what you guys have going on. I’ve got these few dates left, and give me a call.’”

He continued, “And then, right after the first of the year, David Lee Roth’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 [when Anthony was ousted from Van Halen].”

The bassist added, “From what I’ve heard, and I haven’t spoken to any of the guys, they were gonna try to plan a thing for this summer, 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.”

Anthony went on to say that he had even cleared his summer schedule, thinking the reunion might happen, even telling his current group Sammy Hagar & The Circle about the plan. “The reason the Circle is taking a break right now is that if things would have worked out as they were starting to go and was planned,” explained Anthony. “We would have been in pre-production rehearsals with Van Halen right now.”

As of now, Van Halen still consists of David Lee Roth, Eddie Van Halen, Alex Van Halen, and Wolfgang Van Halen. Currently, they have no tour dates scheduled.

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Michael Anthony confirms “plug got pulled” on planned Van Halen reunion tour
Spencer Kaufman