Michael Anthony has revealed that Eddie Van Halen was planning a Van Halen reunion tour featuring all former members before his death in 2020. He shared this information in a recent interview on Get On The Bus.
The bassist opened up about his regrets regarding how Van Halen’s legacy ended. He shared details about the planned reunion that never came to fruition.
“The only regret that I have is that how things unfortunately turned out for Van Halen,” Anthony said. “It’s a culmination of everything that happened or whatever because when Van Halen was really firing on all 12 cylinders, we’re living the dream. It’s the fairy tale or whatever. And the first time it ended was when David Lee Roth left the band.”
Anthony reflected on the band’s rebirth with Sammy Hagar. He expressed disappointment about the band’s conclusion.
“Luckily Sammy joined the band and it was like a rebirth,” he continued. “And obviously, the band was even bigger at that point or whatever but the only regret I have is that the way it all ended. It should have gone out with a freaking bang that shook the world and it was more like a whimper the way everything ended.”
The bassist then revealed the planned reunion tour that Eddie Van Halen had been considering before his passing.
“Unfortunately, Eddie and I never… we had some issues and I’m sure that if he had not passed when he did, we would have reconciled or we would have really calmed all that stuff down,” Anthony explained. “Because I did hear and I’ve talked to Wolfgang about it that you know they were planning on coming to all of us and putting together a big reunion tour with all of us.”
Anthony suggested that Eddie Van Halen’s perspective had evolved in his later years. This made the reunion more likely.
“At that point in Ed’s life I think he was a little bit more like, ‘Hey, the past is the past. Let’s all freaking … water under the bridge,'” he said. “That whole bit. But unfortunately, it was not to be.”
Anthony’s revelations shed new light on the band’s final chapter. They also revealed the ambitious plans that were cut short by Eddie’s untimely death.
The reunion tour Anthony mentioned was not the first attempt at bringing the original Van Halen lineup back together. Van Halen News Desk reported that there were earlier plans for a reunion tour involving the original lineup that was set to feature major special guests like Foo Fighters and Metallica in select cities. These ambitious plans were derailed due to Eddie’s declining health issues. The tour never materialized.
Eddie Van Halen had also discussed even grander farewell plans for the band beyond the reunion with former members. Guitar World revealed that Eddie had talked about a farewell tour with the original lineup, which would have included Michael Anthony, with the goal of going out “the way we came in.” This concept would have brought the band full circle to its roots.
The scope of Eddie’s final tour visions extended beyond just reuniting with past members. Consequence of Sound disclosed that Eddie Van Halen had been planning an even more ambitious farewell tour that would have featured all three Van Halen singers—David Lee Roth, Sammy Hagar, and Gary Cherone—performing together. This unprecedented concept would have represented the complete history of Van Halen’s vocal evolution.
Eddie Van Halen passed away in October 2020 after a long battle with cancer. His death brought an end to these reunion possibilities and left fans to wonder what might have been. His death not only halted the planned reunion with Anthony and Hagar but also ended the possibility of the multi-singer farewell tour that could have provided the “freaking bang” conclusion Anthony felt the band deserved.
