Michael Anthony didn’t hear about David Lee Roth’s Van Halen tribute band with Jason Newsted until it reached the press: “I don’t know what was going on there”
“I don’t know, who knows what was going on in their minds when they were trying to put something together. All I know is that they had spoken to me also.”
Images: (Left) Bryan Steffy and (right) Ragnar Singsaas / Getty
You may remember mentions of a supposed Van Halen tribute with Jason Newsted circulating back in 2022, and Michael Anthony has now had his say on the bizarre situation.
At the time, fans were a tad perplexed that David Lee Roth and Alex Van Halen had reached out to someone other than Anthony, or even Wolfgang Van Halen, who played bass for the band as a teenager. According to Anthony, he didn’t even hear about the tribute until it was out there in the press.
Anthony will soon be heading out on the road for The Best Of All Worlds Tour with Sammy Hagar, Joe Satriani, and Jason Bonham. The band will be playing classic Van Halen material.
Speaking to Ultimate Guitar ahead of the stint, Anthony reflected on the ‘reunion’ that never came to fruition: “It was really interesting because I had not even heard about that [concerning Newsted] until I heard about it in the press,” he states.
“And it was right around that time that I actually had gotten a call from Alex and Dave about doing a reunion. So I don’t know what was going on there. Because I think it was right around the same time that supposedly Jason had been asked.
“But I thought it was actually pretty interesting, because here I am, you know, ‘Hey!’ But I don’t know, who knows what was going on in their minds when they were trying to put something together. All I know is that they had spoken to me also. But things kind of fell apart before they were even able to be put together.”
The Best Of All Worlds Tour kicks off on 13 July in Florida. You can find out more and view all scheduled dates now.