Michael Anthony shuts down those Van Halen tour rumors

December 28, 2018

It seems that those Van Halen original lineup reunion rumors may have been too good to be true.

For those who don’t know, recent rumors have surfaced on the internet that claimed the group would be making their return to the stage sometime next year, with their original lineup intact.

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The latest round of rumors first started when the band’s lead singer David Lee Roth hinted that the band was planning on playing a show at Yanke Stadium sometime next summer, and it was only intensified after radio personality Eddie Trunk alleged that the band’s former bassist Michael Anthony would be coming along for the ride.

While it was pretty exciting news, it seems that Anthony wants to set the record straight.

Premiere Radio Networks, which is a division of iHeartRadio, decided to reach out to Anthony on Dec. 27 for an official comment…and fans may not like hearing what he had to say.

“The only comment I have is that I haven’t spoken to any of the guys since we last played together back in 2004,” Anthony shared with the station.

The bassist then added that he did run into the group’s drummer Alex Van Halen “a few years back,” but nothing further stemmed from the encounter other than some small talk.

While he never mentioned if the rumors were true or not, it doesn’t seem very likely the band would be gearing up for a tour without at least talking to Anthony first.

In any case, even though the group might not be touring with Anthony, Roth did make it seem like tour plans were currently in the works.

The band’s vocalist recently did an interview with Vulture, where he teased that a tour would be coming.

“When we come back through town in the summertime and do the original thing, maybe somewhere sportin’, maybe with somebody famous, I’ll make sure we get you all tickets so you can see what we do for gainful employment.”

Further into the interview, the singer also shared that they’ll be playing “the same place that the Yankees play.”

When pressed on the information, he didn’t exactly budge, but he shared that Van Halen is slated to play Yanke Stadium sometime next summer, saying: “Yeah, but I can’t … If I say something on tape here and everybody goes, “Oh, this leaked…” But, the band will be — I can’t say.”

He then continued with:

“Well, I don’t know how far this privacy actually goes. But the band is solvent. And I can say that I contacted colleagues about being part of the show — Metallica, Guns N’ Roses, Jason Aldean, the Foo Fighters, Church, and Stapleton. And they all said that, if everything happens, they would certainly be involved.”

So…we might not be getting the tour we’d have hoped for, but that doesn’t go without saying something could be in the works. It looks as though time will tell.