David Lee Roth and Sammy Hagar have confirmed reunion rumblings
Michael Anthony has dismissed any reunion plans he may have had with the original members of Van Halen. Anthony shared the news via an Instagram comment after posting a picture of himself sitting under an RV canopy.
“A little R&R in the motorhome with the family before the start of The Circle tour with @Sammy-Hagar, @jasonbonham, and @Vic Johnson!! #lovethemotorhome #thecircle #readytorock,” Anthony writes.
A fan questioned, “Thought the circle was on hold because of VH tour??” Anthony responded, “VH tour not gonna happen.” While the bassist didn’t elaborate, other fans began questioning if the tour would ever happen or if it was ever even in the works to begin with.
Rumors have swirled for years that the original members were working on reuniting, with original frontman David Lee Roth kicking that into high gear leading into 2019. In an interview with Vulture last year, Roth claims the group would reconvene for a stadium run of summer tour dates.
“[T]he 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,” Roth states.
Shortly thereafter, SiriusXM host and rock historian Eddie Trunk spoke about the rumors of the original group reuniting were coming from reliable sources, but stressed the importance of these being rumors.
“The rumors from reliable sources – but still rumors that are unconfirmed – is that the band will tour in 2019 with the original band, which would mean the return of Michael, and that there it’s gonna be some sort of stadium package,” Trunk stated.
Hagar even confirmed to Trunk that Anthony was contacted about a possible tour, but hasn’t heard back from Van Halen’s management.
“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, late last year, Anthony shot the reunion rumors down after speaking with iHeartRadio’s Premiere Networks, 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.”
The original lineup — Roth, Anthony, guitarist Eddie Van Halen and drummer Alex Van Halen — hasn’t performed together since Roth originally left the band in 1985. He was replaced by Sammy Hagar and the band became arguably more successful and mainstream. Anthony left the band in 2004 and was replaced by Eddie’s son Wolfgang in 2006, apparently causing a big rift between Anthony and the Van Halen brothers.
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.
