Michael Anthony contacted about possible Van Halen reunion

Sammy Hagar revealed the news during an interview with Eddie Trunk

Sammy Hagar says former Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony was contacted by the band’s management about a possible reunion last year. The former Van Halen frontman spoke with SiriusXM’s Eddie Trunk on Trunk Nation this week about the possible scenario while promoting his and Anthony’s band, The Circle.

“I’m not trying to hide anything, like I know something but don’t know something,” he tells Trunk via phone. “Michael and I have had the conversation. I’m telling you, Mike don’t know shit. They’re gonna — eventually, somebody’s going to have to give the guy a call. He got a call six months ago from management saying, ‘Are you interested?’ He said, ‘Yeah, you know, I’m doing a record with Sammy right now. It depends. We’re booking shows. You’d have to work around it.’ They said, ‘Okay, we’ll get back to you,’ and that was it. Mike totally has my blessing.”

However, in late December, Anthony shot down rumors he had even spoken with the any of the band in years, stating, “The only comment I have is that I haven’t spoken to any of the guys since we last played together back in 2004.”

Van Halen reunion rumors have swirled for years, but original frontman David Lee Roth fueled more rumblings during a Vulture interview last year claiming an all original reunion stadium tour would happen in 2019.

“When we come back through town in the summertime and do the original thing, maybe somewhere sportin’, maybe with somebody famous, I’ll make sure we get you all tickets so you can see what we do for gainful employment. My mom still wonders,” he tells Vulture employees during an impromptu stop at their New York City offices earlier this month to promote his new skin-care products designed to keep tattoos from fading.”

Roth teased, “We don’t think about the price. Because, you know, next time my rock band will be playing the same place that the Yankees play. Okay?” When he was pressed for more details, he stated, “Yeah, but I can’t … If I say something on tape here and everybody goes, ‘Oh, this leaked…’ But, the band will be — I can’t say.”

He continues, “Well, I don’t know how far this privacy actually goes. But the band is solvent. And I can say that I contacted colleagues about being part of the show — Metallica, Guns N’ Roses, Jason Aldean, the Foo Fighters, [Eric] Church, and [Chris] Stapleton. And they all said that, if everything happens, they would certainly be involved.”

Van Halen and Roth have reunited off and on for tours in recent years. In late 2016, we reported that a reunion tour and album was set for the group’s 40th anniversary in 2018, but nothing came of it. It was also suggested that Hagar would some how “take part” of the festivities as he and Eddie Van Halen exchanged tweets after years of silence between the pair. However, Hagar has stated several times in the past that he would never return to Van Halen without Anthony.

“There’s no scenario I’d do it without Mikey,” he states. “Absolutely not. I would do a solo album with Ed. We can call it the Sam and Ed Show or the Ed and Sam Show. But there’s no such thing as a Van Halen reunion without Mikey. I think they just proved that.”

Hagar, Anthony, along with drummer Jason Bonham and guitarist Vic Johnson, are touring as The Circle this spring and summer in support of the band’s debut studio album, Space Between, on May 10th through BMG. The album follows a recent global recordings agreement with Sammy Hagar & The Circle for the new album, as well as select Hagar catalog titles in the future.

The 23 city North American begins on April 19th in Reno, NV and extends through June 7th in Chicago, IL. Rock greats Vince Neil and Night Ranger will join the tour as special guests on select dates of the tour.

Buddy Iahn
Buddy Iahn