Former Van Halen Bassist Michael Anthony Says "Eddie Had It In For Me"

Paul Cashmere of Australia's Undercover.com.au spoke with bassist Michael Anthony (Chickenfoot, ex-Van Halen). Selections from the interview follow below:

Undercover.com.au: What is your relationship with Eddie Van Halen these days?

Anthony: There is no relationship. They chose their own path and their own way to go. Eddie had it in for me ever since I buddied up with Sammy Hagar again which I couldn't understand because Sammy had asked me sometime back if I would like to come and guest on some shows. This was when Van Halen was going through a period where Eddie was dealing with some of his own demons. He had the cancer thing he was dealing with and his marriage. As far as I was concerned, I was going out there waving the Van Halen flag to say, "We didn't go away, we are still here." Unfortunately, he didn't see it that way. He never liked me hanging out with Sammy and I can't understand why because Van Halen was my band. They didn't see it that way so they chose to not have me participate.

Undercover.com.au: How was that broken to you?

Anthony: Actually, we finished out reunion tour in 2004 and I probably knew that nothing was going to happen after that, also because of the physical and mental state that Eddie was in at that time. That tour did not end very harmoniously I guess you could stay. I'm not going to point any fingers but it just didn't. It was unfortunate that we had to pull the plug after only 80 shows. We should have gone around the world five times. Back in 2007 when they announced their reunion tour with David Lee Roth, I found out about it like all the other fans did. I saw it in the press and found out like everyone else did. That didn't hurt me as much as when they relaunched their web site and took my image off a couple of the album covers. That upset me that they would go so far as to try and erase me out of the history of the band.

Undercover.com.au: What about being replaced by a teenager?

Anthony: That is his son. He is a teenager but he is a decent bass player. I think that was also part of the reason to do it, to spite me.

Undercover.com.au: And it was bizarre that at the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, the only two members of Van Halen who turned up were you and Sammy Hagar.

Anthony: I know. A couple of weeks before the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, I would have thought that as soon as Dave knew we were being inducted, he would have been camping out at the Waldorf ready to go out there. I spoke with Dave's manager and said we should put things aside and be friends for just one evening. When you look at bands like Metallica, they had everybody come back on stage. Unfortunately, Dave, from what I heard after talking to Slash, Dave wanted to do certain things that would steal the show and when he couldn't have it his way he didn't want to show up. For whatever reason, Eddie and Alex didn't show up. It sucked. We were the two people who weren't even in the band anymore but there was no way I was going to miss that. That was better than a Grammy to be inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. I remember sitting at the table while REM were playing and I turned to Sammy and said, "This would have been great. We would have kicked this thing right in the ass." Nobody would have ever forgotten this induction ceremony if all of us were getting along and went up there.

If this is true then it's very sad...