Music News
Anthony Recalls Van Halen Exit
Bassist Michael Anthony recently spoke out about the series of events that led to his recruitment into current supergroup Chickenfoot.
Anthony, who recently launched his own YouTube channel, Mad Anthony TV, found fame playing bass with Van Halen in the '80s and '90s. The musician explained to Mojo that the rift between him and the band developed in the late '90s after Van Halen made an unsuccessful attempt to bring David Lee Roth back behind the microphone.
With the group apparently in limbo, Anthony accepted an invitation from Hagar to play with Neal Schon in their project Planet Us.
"Some Van Halen fans say I left the band to hook up with Sammy, but I never said, 'I quit.' There was nothing going on in the Van Halen camp, but Eddie kinda backed me up against a wall... Eddie felt that I was a traitor. I helped hook Sammy back up with them for the 2004 reunion tour, but Eddie didn't want me to be a part of that originally, so I took a big pay cut. I'm not crying, I didn't need the money. I did that because I wanted to play for the fans. I signed away any legal rights I had with the name, the trademark or whatever. I did it because if that was the last time Van Halen would ever be on stage, I wanted to be part of it."
Anthony went on to add, "The major reason why I'm not in Van Halen [now] is because I became friends with Sammy again. The Van Halen brothers never got over that. If they hold a grudge, they hold it forever."
When Van Halen announced their reunion with Roth and then-new bassist Wolfgang Van Halen in 2007, the singer dodged the question of why the 16-year-old nephew of guitarist Eddie Van Halen was now in the band.
"Michael Anthony is part of this band's history," Roth said. "There's a lot of great alumni who have been through this band. I'm shocked that any of us are still vertical after 30 years. And as far as why Wolf is in the band, may I speak for you, Ed? I understand how he wanted to play with the boy because he's amazing."
Image used with permission by WireImage.
