Michael Anthony Still Wants In on an Eddie Van Halen Tribute Concert

The former Van Halen bassist says a couple of giant shows would be the right way to honor the guitar legend, but no concrete plans exist.

Michael Anthony told SiriusXM’s ‘Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk’ on May 20 that he would still love to participate in a tribute concert honoring the late Eddie Van Halen, while acknowledging that the window for original band members to be actively involved is narrowing. The former Van Halen bassist floated the idea of one or two large-scale shows rather than a full tour, and said virtually any guitarist worth the title would want to be part of it.

Anthony Outlines What a Tribute Could Look Like

Speaking with host Eddie Trunk, Anthony was careful to frame the concept as a celebration rather than a commercial venture. He described the ideal format as ‘a couple of giant shows maybe, or maybe one on the East Coast, one on the West Coast, whatever, and just a full-on tribute and thank you to the guy who fricking opened up guitar and took it to the next level.’

Anthony was equally emphatic about the draw such an event would carry for the guitar community. ‘I guarantee any guitar player who’s any guitar player would wanna come and be a part of it,’ he said, adding that musicians he knows personally ‘would all be chomping at the bit to come up and jam, do a couple of songs.’

When Trunk observed that the tribute ‘should happen sooner than later’ but that there is no timetable, Anthony agreed with the urgency. ‘Obviously it can be done, but time’s not running out yet, but it’s getting thin for all of us other members to be involved actively in doing something,’ he said. ‘Because I definitely would love to be part of something like that.’

A Long Road With No Destination Yet

The idea of a formal Eddie Van Halen tribute has circulated for years without producing a concrete event. The last reported movement came in April 2022, when former Metallica bassist Jason Newsted revealed to The Palm Beach Post that Van Halen drummer Alex Van Halen had approached him roughly six months earlier about playing bass for the project. Newsted said he agreed to travel to California to jam with Alex and guitarist Joe Satriani, but ultimately concluded he could not do justice to Van Halen’s legacy.

Three months after Newsted’s comments, Wolfgang Van Halen told Rolling Stone that the tribute idea had been shelved due to personality clashes within the Van Halen camp. Wolfgang elaborated in an October 2022 interview with Classic Rock magazine, explaining that he had already found his own closure through a different stage. He played three Van Halen songs, ‘On Fire,’ ‘Hot For Teacher,’ and ‘Panama,’ across two concerts in September 2022 as part of the Taylor Hawkins tribute shows, performing alongside Dave Grohl on bass, Josh Freese on drums, and The Darkness’s Justin Hawkins on vocals.

‘I think I already did it with the Taylor Hawkins tributes,’ Wolfgang said. ‘I feel a lot of closure because my part of the show was a tribute to my father.’ He also addressed the broader dysfunction that has historically complicated any collective Van Halen effort. ‘When it comes to VAN HALEN and entities surrounding the band it’s unfortunate, certainly compared to FOO FIGHTERS who have their shit together with interpersonal relationships,’ he said. ‘I don’t know what it is with some bands but certain personalities just can’t get over themselves to work collectively for one purpose. That’s been the curse of VAN HALEN for its entire career.’

Where Things Stand

As of Anthony’s May 20 appearance, no new progress on a Van Halen tribute concert has been reported. Anthony stopped short of saying he was actively pushing for the event, noting he is not going to ‘sit there and knock on the door all day long,’ but made clear he would respond positively if the right opportunity materialized. The gap between his openness and the organizational obstacles that have repeatedly derailed the concept remains the central obstacle.

What we know

• Michael Anthony appeared on SiriusXM’s ‘Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk’ on May 20 and expressed his desire to participate in an Eddie Van Halen tribute concert.
• Anthony suggested the tribute could take the form of one or two large-scale shows rather than a tour.
• Anthony said time is ‘getting thin’ for original Van Halen members to be actively involved in such a project.
• In April 2022, Jason Newsted revealed he had been approached by Alex Van Halen about playing bass for a tribute project and agreed to jam with Alex and Joe Satriani, but ultimately declined.
• Wolfgang Van Halen told Rolling Stone that the tribute idea was nixed due to personality clashes within Van Halen.
• Wolfgang Van Halen played ‘On Fire,’ ‘Hot For Teacher,’ and ‘Panama’ at the Taylor Hawkins tribute concerts in September 2022, with Dave Grohl on bass, Josh Freese on drums, and Justin Hawkins on vocals.
• Wolfgang told Classic Rock magazine in October 2022 that he was no longer actively interested in pursuing a standalone Eddie Van Halen tribute event, saying the Taylor Hawkins shows gave him closure.

The take

Eddie Van Halen died in October 2020, and the absence of any formal large-scale tribute in the nearly five years since is genuinely unusual by rock history standards. Comparable losses, from Freddie Mercury to Dimebag Darrell to Chris Cornell, produced organized tribute events within a few years, often with surviving bandmates at the center. The Van Halen situation is complicated by factors that have shadowed the band for decades: the fractured relationships between the Roth and Hagar eras, the estrangement between Michael Anthony and the Van Halen family that led to his replacement by Wolfgang in 2006, and now the generational divide between Wolfgang’s desire for closure on his own terms and the surviving original members’ interest in something more expansive. Anthony’s framing, a couple of massive shows with an open-call guitar summit, is actually the most commercially and artistically viable version of this concept. The Taylor Hawkins tributes in 2022 demonstrated that a well-organized, multi-artist tribute show can be both emotionally resonant and logistically manageable. The guitar world’s appetite for an Eddie Van Halen celebration is not in question. What has always been in question is whether the people closest to the legacy can set aside longstanding grievances long enough to make it happen. Anthony’s comments suggest the will is there on his end; the silence from the Van Halen family side tells its own story.

Why it matters

For classic rock fans, an Eddie Van Halen tribute of the scale Anthony describes would be a genuine cultural event, a chance to see the guitar community collectively acknowledge one of the instrument’s most transformative figures. Van Halen’s influence cuts across hard rock, heavy metal, and pop, meaning the potential guest list would be extraordinary. The longer the concept stalls, the more the original members age out of peak performing condition, which is precisely the urgency Anthony is signaling. Whether the organizational will can match the sentiment remains the open question.

What’s next

No dates, venues, or formal announcements have been tied to an Eddie Van Halen tribute concert as of Anthony’s May 20 interview. Anthony indicated he remains open to involvement if approached, but said he is not actively pursuing the project. The last known organizational activity dates to early 2022, involving Alex Van Halen, Jason Newsted, and Joe Satriani, and that effort did not advance.

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