During an appearance this morning (Monday, November 16) on SiriusXM‘s “The Howard Stern Show”, Wolfgang Van Halen revealed that his father, Eddie Van Halen, had contemplated a “kitchen-sink tour” that would have included bassist Michael Anthony, as well as vocal turns from both Sammy Hagar and David Lee Roth. There was even talk about bringing back Gary Cherone, who sang with the band on one poorly received album, 1998’s “Van Halen III”.
Unfortunanately, Eddie‘s health setbacks, which included injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident as well as a brain tumor diagnosis, prevented the tour from ever taking place. “If only things had been better, it would have been amazing,” Wolfgang said.
Wolfgang also said that his father left “a shit-ton of tapes” of unreleased material that “will take a very long time to go through” and decide if there is anything there that could eventually see the light of day. He added: “That’s not the priority right now. I can’t put a timeline on it. There will be a time we go through it. Not for the foreseeable future.”
Wolfgang said that some of his father’s unreleased material is “ideas that probably aren’t out there for good reason,” but added that “I’m sure there’s amazing shit in there.”
Hagar replaced Roth in VAN HALEN in 1985 and recorded four studio albums with the band — “5150”, “OU812”, “For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge” and “Balance” — all of which topped the U.S. chart.
Sammy, Eddie, Alex and Michael last teamed up in 2004 for a U.S. summer tour. In exchange for taking part in the tour, Anthony reportedly had to agree to take a pay cut and sign away his rights to the band name and logo.
Early last year, rumors were rampant that the classic-era lineup of VAN HALEN would reunite for the first time since 1984.
Eddie died on October 6 at St. John’s Hospital in Santa Monica, California. His wife, Janie, was by his side, along with Wolfgang and Alex, his brother and VAN HALEN drummer.
The iconic VAN HALEN axeman died from complications due to cancer, his son confirmed.
VAN HALEN was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 2007.
Rolling Stone magazine ranked Eddie Van Halen No. 8 in its list of the 100 greatest guitarists.
