Former Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony has admitted he had unresolved issues with Eddie Van Halen and regretted not being able to sort things out with the band's guitarist before he died in October last year from cancer.
Anthony exited the band in 2004 and was replaced by Eddie's son, Wolfgang. Speaking on the podcast "Talkin' Rock With Meltdown," Anthony admitted he and Eddie had not really spoken after that and "didn't get a chance to."
"And, you know, it kind of bothers me, because we had some issues that were never resolved," he said, via Ultimate Classic Rock. "But, I mean, what can you do? We were on track [for] a reunion, which I'm really sad that it never happened. But, you know, life and the show goes on."
In 2018 Van Halen's manager contacted Anthony with a proposition of joining the band for a tour. In the interview, Anthony said he chose to let his own manager handle the logistics, as he "wanted to do it correctly." Unfortunately, before plans for the tour could manifest, Eddie got sick and the tour had to be shelved. Eddie died on Oct. 6 at age 65.
"Ed, it was a dream come true and the best time of my life. I miss ya brother..." Anthony wrote in an Instagram post shortly after his death.
Anthony was not the only former Van Halen band member to have a tense relationship with Eddie. Things between him and Sammy Hagar were also rocky ever since Hagar first left the band in 1996 and then bailed in wake of a disastrous reunion tour in 2004. However, unlike Anthony, he was able to bury the hatchet before Eddie died.
"Poor Eddie, broke my heart, but thank God we connected before [he died]," Hagar said in an interview with Variety late last year. "I heard he was in bad shape and I wanted to reach out; I finally said, 'I'm just calling him.'"
It was not easy to track Eddie down though. He no longer had the rocker's phone number and did not know how to reach him. Eventually, it was George Lopez who reconnected the two. When Hagar did reach out to Eddie, there was no tension between them.
"I said, 'Why don't you respond? I've been reaching out,'" Hagar explained, "and Ed said, 'Why didn't you call me? Don’t f---ing call my brother, f---ing call me!' And I said, 'I love you man,' and it was like, boom, we were good. It was a beautiful thing."
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