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Michael Anthony thinks Van Halen’s 2007 Rock Hall induction was “pretty sad”
Nearly 20 years on, the bassist still has regrets about the night.
Image: Jeff Kravitz / Getty Images
Van Halen’s 2007 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame isn’t exactly a moment former bassist Michael Anthony looks back fondly on.
The musician appears on a new episode of The Hook Rocks podcast, where he reflects on the Van Halen performance that could have been and his disappointment at how things went down between the members.
Of those inducted, only Anthony and Sammy Hagar attended the ceremony. Eddie Van Halen was in rehab at the time, while Alex Van Halen and David Lee Roth had decided not to turn up.
“It’s pretty sad, Sammy and I were the only two from the band that showed up, and we weren’t even in the band at the time,” Anthony says.
“I turned to Sammy during the show — I forget who was on stage playing – and we were sitting at our table and I go, 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.”
In the same interview, Anthony revealed why the rumoured all-star Van Halen tribute concert had failed to materialise, saying “one of the ingredients was not playing ball with everybody else”.
“I’m not gonna point fingers… that’s all I’m gonna say. I’ll let you all figure it out. And that’s why none of it worked.”
On a lighter note, Anthony has the ‘Best of All Worlds’ tour to look forward to later this year. Featuring Sammy Hagar, Jason Bonham, Joe Satriani, himself and a chock-full of classics from the Van Halen catalogue, the tour will kick off on 13 July in Palm Beach, Florida.
“Sammy and I said, let’s just let’s go out and play the music,” Anthony said. “And we’ll go up there and we’ll honour Eddie. And I know Joe is going to do his best. He’s not trying to step into Ed’s shoes or whatever. He’s Joe Satriani. But he loves the music. And he wants to go out there and really do try to do it justice in his own way and to honour Eddie also.”