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Van Halen

Bring back Sammy and Mike!!

Planned Van Halen tour hits roadblock
Van Halen (music)’s recently announced summer reunion tour with original lead singer David Lee Roth (music) has been indefinitely postponed, according to a reliable source.
Earlier this month, Van Halen issued a press release in which the group announced it was hitting the road with Roth in tow for the first time since the mid-’80s. The announcement promised 40 shows featuring Roth, group co-founders Eddie and Alex Van Halen, and new bassist Wolfgang Van Halen, Eddie’s son, who was to take over on stage for fired original bassist Michael Anthony.
The Feb. 2 press release came from Eddie Van Halen’s girlfriend, Janie Lisewski, whose publicity firm, High Profile Media, recently became the guitarist’s official mouthpiece. Neither the band’s management, nor the management’s publicity firm, ever commented publicly on the group’s plans.
Reports indicated that a Roth-era best-of set was due out from Rhino Records this spring in anticipation of the tour, but it is believed that those plans have also been shelved.
While the band’s future remains uncertain, one thing is for sure: the group will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame during a March 12 ceremony at New York City’s Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. Traditionally, inductees perform during the event, but Van Halen’s volatile state has many fans wondering if the group will honor that tradition.
Roth split from Van Halen in 1985, and was replaced by Sammy Hagar.
Hagar parted with the band on bad terms in 1996 and was replaced by former Extreme frontman Gary Cherone, who recorded one album with the group, then split after a 1998 tour in support of the set.
Hagar returned to the group for a 2004 reunion tour, but went back to his solo career at tour’s end after having another falling out with Eddie Van Halen. Hagar and Anthony subsequently toured with Hagar’s solo band, and last year performed at each of Hagar’s tour stops as The Other Half, a group whose setlist was comprised entirely of Van Halen material.
Eddie Van Halen has since expressed his displeasure about the Hagar/Anthony venture, in the wake of which the guitarist bounced Anthony out of the group.