Alex Van Halen has bid to “put the record straight” regarding Michael Anthony’s absence from Van Halen’s final reunion with David Lee Roth, claiming he was offered the gig.
After a brief second era with Sammy Hagar from 2003 to 2005, Van Halen’s third era, with Diamond Dave once again fronting the band, began in 2006, with Eddie’s son, Wolfgang, unveiled as their new bassist. But he only got the gig after Anthony ghosted them, Alex claims.
“We did call,” he tells Brazlian outlet KazaGastão. “To put the record straight, we did call Mike because we owed him that, and he just didn't answer.
“We had the same manager,” he adds. “Come on! He was important for the band.”
So, when “nobody showed up” at the studio to accompany the Van Halen brothers, the job eventually went Wolfgang, who ended up impressing Eddie and Alex during a jam.
Alex adds: “People think there were family influences in how he [Wolfgang] became part of the band, which is simply not true.” He insists the then-teenager got the job on merit
Wolfgang has said that the reunion hinged on his involvement, and with Alex’s claims, it’s easy to see why. And he even had to keep his dad in check at times. Alex, meanwhile, is glad Wolfgang has gone on to be “his own man.”
“He’s very careful that he doesn’t want to be Ed Jr,” he continues. “He was in a very tough spot. He could have just continued with the Van Halen stuff, but he decided he was his own man.”
Indeed, Wolfgang said it would have “ruined” his life had he messed up covering Van Halen at Taylor Hawkins’ tribute show as he bid to carve out his own path. He’s kept his late dad close by, occasionally recording with Eddie’s beloved Frankenstein guitar, and carrying the torch of his tapping legacy, but his band, Mammoth, operates in a whole other sphere.
And as EVH the brand updates Wolfgang’s namesake guitar, Alex is busy working on a new Van Halen album with Steve Lukather.
Steve Vai, who has praised the quality of the unreleased Van Halen he's heard, believes Lukather is “the best guy” to complete material. It was recorded during Eddie Van Halen’s lifetime and intended as a successor to the 2012 album, A Different Kind of Truth.
