Michael Anthony blames 'one of the ingredients' for Van Halen tribute not happening
Alex Van Halen was planning the tribute in 2021
Michael Anthony has blamed ‘one of the ingredients’ in the former Van Halen camp for a planned tribute tour falling through.
Back in 2022, guitar virtuoso Joe Satriani revealed he had been discussing a Van Halen tribute tour with Alex Van Halen and David Lee Roth.
Former Metallica bassist Jason Newsted also confirmed that a tribute tour was being put together in late 2021, and he was personally approached by Alex Van Halen to take part before it “fizzled” out.
The tour was planned to honour the late-great Eddie Van Halen and his musical legacy with Van Halen.
In a fresh interview with The Hooks Rocks podcast to promote Sammy Hagar’s upcoming Best of All Worlds Tour, bassist Michael Anthony shed more light on why the tour fell through.
“Now I, myself, I got a call from Alex and Dave a few years, a right around that same time. And they wanted to put something together, and Joe was in the mix,” Anthony said.
“I remember talking to Joe (Satriani) a couple of times after that, too. And Joe was telling me, 'Yeah, well, they gave me some of that album and told me to listen to it or whatever.'”
Without naming any names, Anthony continued: “All I can say is – I'm not gonna point fingers – but through all of this, one of the ingredients was not, let's say, playing ball with everybody else. And that's all I'm gonna say. I'll let you all figure it out.
“It's pretty sad, because even when the band was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame – this was in 2007 – Sammy Hagar and I were the only two from the band that showed up, and we weren't even in the band at the time.”
The Best of All Worlds Tour across North America this summer is ultimately the closest thing Van Halen fans will get to a tribute.
Sammy Hagar, Michael Anthony, Joe Satriani and Jason Bonham will perform a set dominated by Van Halen tracks from “deep” in their catalogue alongside a handful of songs by The Circle.
The greatest guitar solos ever, including Eddie Van Halen:
75) Pink Floyd – ‘Wish You Were Here’ (1975)
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74) Iron Maiden – ‘Hallowed Be Thy Name’ (1982)
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73) Guns N’ Roses – ‘Paradise City’ (1987)
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72) Guns N’ Roses – ‘Estranged’ (1991)
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71) Bon Jovi – ‘Wanted Dead or Alive’ (1986)
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70) Iron Maiden – ‘Powerslave’ (1984)
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69) UFO – ‘Lights Out’ (1977)
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68) Neil Young – ‘Like a Hurricane’ (1977)
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67) Judas Priest – ‘Beyond The Realms of Death’ (1978)
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66) Free – ‘All Right Now’ (1970)
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65) Extreme – ‘Play With Me’(1989)
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64) AC/DC – ‘Back in Black’ (1981)
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63) UFO – ‘Love To Love’ (1977)
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62) Led Zeppelin – ‘Whole Lotta Love’ (1969)
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61) Eric Johnson – ‘Cliffs of Dover’ (1990)
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60) Stevie Ray Vaughn – ‘Little Wing’ (1984, released posthumously in 1991)
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59) Pearl Jam – ‘Alive’ (1991)
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58) Metallica – ‘Nothing Else Matters’ (1991)
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57) Fleetwood Mac – ‘The Chain’ (1977)
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56) Dragonforce – ‘Through the Fire and Flames’ (2005)
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55) Thin Lizzy – ‘Emerald’ (1976)
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54) Dire Straits – ‘Brothers in Arms’ (1985)
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53) Steve Vai – ‘For the Love of God’ (1990)
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52) Deep Purple – ‘Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming’ (1996)
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51) AC/DC – ‘Thunderstruck’ (1990)
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50) Rainbow – ‘Gates of Babylon’ (1977)
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49) Metallica – ‘The Unforgiven’ (1991)
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48) Rush – ‘La Villa Strangiato’ (1978)
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47) Pantera – ‘Cemetery Gates’ (1990)
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46) Pink Floyd – ‘Shine on You Crazy Diamond’ (1975)
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45) Dire Straits – ‘Telegraph Road’ (1982)
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44) Peter Frampton – ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’ (2003)
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43) Slash – ‘Anastasia’ (2012)
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42) The Beatles – ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’ (1968)
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41) Pink Floyd – ‘Time’ (1973)
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40) Genesis – ‘Firth of Fifth’ (1973)
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39) Deep Purple – ‘Smoke on the Water’ (1972)
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38) AC/DC – ‘Let There Be Rock’ (1977)
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37) Megadeth – ‘Tornado of Souls’ (1990)
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36) Ozzy Osbourne – ‘No More Tears’ (1991)
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35) Metallica – ‘Fade To Black’ (1984)
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34) Marillion – ‘Easter’ (1990)
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33) Joe Bonamassa – ‘India / Mountain Time’ (2008)
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32) Ozzy Osbourne – ‘Crazy Train’ (1980)
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31) Cream – ‘Crossroads’ (1968)
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30) AC/DC – ‘Whole Lotta Rosie’ (1977)
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29) Led Zeppelin – ‘Since I’ve Been Loving You’ (1970)
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28) Queen – ‘Brighton Rock’ (1974)
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27) Metallica – ‘One’ (1989)
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26) Extreme – ‘Get The Funk Out’ (1990)
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25) Thin Lizzy – ‘Still In Love With You’ (1974)
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24) Metallica – ‘Master of Puppets’ (1986)
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23) The Jimi Hendrix Experience – ‘Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)’ (1968)
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22) Joe Bonamassa – ‘Sloe Gin’ (2007)
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21) Ozzy Osbourne – ‘Mr Crowley’ (1980)
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20) Derek & The Dominoes – ‘Layla’
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19) Gary Moore – ‘Still Got The Blues (For You)’ (1990)
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18) Prince - ‘Purple Rain’ (1984)
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17) Deep Purple – ‘Child in Time’ (1970)
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16) Bon Jovi – ‘Dry County’ (1992)
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15) The Jimi Hendrix Experience – ‘All Along The Watchtower’ (1967)
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14) Deep Purple – ‘Highway Star’ (1972)
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13) Gary Moore – ‘Parisienne Walkways’ (1979)
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12) UFO – ‘Rock Bottom’ (1974)
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11) Dire Straits – ‘Sultans of Swing’ (1978)
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10) Queen – ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ (1975)
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9) Rainbow – ‘Stargazer’ (1976)
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8) Guns N’ Roses – ‘Sweet Child ‘O Mine’ (1987)
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7) Van Halen – ‘Eruption’ (1978)
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6) Guns N’ Roses – ‘November Rain’ (1991)
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5) Eagles – ‘Hotel California’ (1976)
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4) Led Zeppelin – ‘Stairway To Heaven’ (1971)
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3) Alter Bridge – ‘Blackbird’ (2007)
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2) Lynyrd Skynyrd - ‘Free Bird’ (1973)
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1) Pink Floyd – ‘Comfortably Numb’ (1979)
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