Michael Anthony: One Person Was ‘Not Playing Ball’ for VH Tribute

Michael
Anthony
recently
discussed
the
failed
attempts to launch a

Van
Halen
tribute
tour,
claiming
that
one
unnamed
member “was
not
playing
ball
with
everybody
else.”

Reports
of
the trek emerged
in
2022,
when
former

Metallica
bassist

Jason
Newsted
claimed
in
an
interview
that

Alex
Van
Halen
had

approached
him
about
taking
part
in
the
road
trip
alongside
guitarist

Joe
Satriani,
who
would
be
taking
the
place
of
the
late

Eddie
Van
Halen.

David
Lee
Roth
was
also

rumored
to
be
involved.

Reflecting
on
both
the
failed
Van
Halen
tribute
tour
and his upcoming

Best
of
All
Worlds
tour
with

Sammy
Hagar
and
Satriani,
Anthony
told The
Hook
Rocks!
podcast: “It’s
really
interesting
how
everything
just
kind of
weaves
together.
You
talk
about
Joe
being
approached
by
Alex
and
Dave.
And
then
there
have
been
people
that
—
all
of
a
sudden,
in
the
press,
I
read
that
Jason
Newsted,
who
played
with
Metallica,
was
[approached
too].
Now
I,
myself,
I
got
a
call
from
Alex
and
Dave
a
few
years
back,
right
around
that
same
time.
And
they
wanted
to
put
something
together,
and
Joe
was
in
the
mix.
I
remember
talking
to
Joe
a
couple
of
times
after
that,
too.
And
Joe
was
telling
me, ‘Yeah,
well,
they
gave
me
some
of
that
album
and
told
me
to
listen
to
it’
or
whatever.”

The
bassist
continued: “All
I
can
say
is
—
I’m
not
gonna
point
fingers
—
but
through
all
of
this,
one
of
the
ingredients
was
not,
let’s
say,
playing
ball
with
everybody
else.
And
that’s
all
I’m
gonna
say.
I’ll
let
you
all
figure
it
out.
And
that’s
why
none
of
it
worked.
And
you’ve
read
it
probably
with

Wolfgang
[Van
Halen]‘s
interviews,
too,
that
he’s
been
doing
this
past
year.”

READ
MORE:

Wolfgang
Van
Halen
Says
Van
Halen ‘Doesn’t
Exist
Anymore’

The
younger
Van
Halen
had
the
opportunity
to
pay
tribute
to
his
father
at
the Taylor
Hawkins
tribute
concerts
in
2022, where
he covered “On
Fire,” “Hot
for
Teacher”
and “Panama.”
He
said
those
shows “delivered
that
catharsis
without
the
stresses
of
dealing
with
the
Van
Halen
camp,
and
the
players
involved.
Their
camp
is
very
dysfunctional
—
everyone!
—
hell,
it
was
difficult
to
make
plans
even
when
the
band
was
active.”

Michael
Anthony
Reflects
on
Van
Halen’s
Rock
Hall
Induction

Anthony
also
lamented
the
missed
opportunity
for
a
Van
Halen
reunion
at
the
band’s
2007

Rock
&
Roll
Hall
of
Fame
induction. “Sammy
and
I
were
the
only
two
from
the
band
that
showed
up,
and
we
weren’t
even
in
the
band
at
the
time,”
the
bassist
recalled.

“And
it
was
pretty
sad,
because
I
turned
to Sammy during
the
show
—
I
forget
who
was
onstage
playing
—
and
we
were
sitting
at
our
table
and
I
go, ‘Sammy,
could
you
imagine
if
all
of
us,
if
we
were
all
here
and
everybody
got
along
and
we
got
up
there?
We
would
kick
the
ass
out
of
this
thing.
It’d
be
an
induction
ceremony
that nobody would
ever
forget.’
And
sadly
enough,
it
wasn’t
to
be.”