michael anthony

There's once again drama in the world of Van Halen, with singer David Lee Roth complaining about a recent lack of activity and communication within the band, and openly calling for a reunion with original bassist Michael Anthony.

The last time Michael Anthony was on 'That Metal Show,' his former Van Halen (and current Chickenfoot) bandmate Sammy Hagar didn't feel his friend went into quite enough detail about his departure from one of rock's most famous and successful bands.

Like you, Van Halen‘s former bassist Michael Anthony heard David Lee Roth‘s explanation for why the band pulled 30 dates from their current tour schedule. Roth said the group “simply bit off more than we could chew,” but Anthony isn’t quite so sure.

Michael Anthony‘s backing vocals were secretly almost as important to the success of Van Halen as Eddie’s shredding, but former frontman Sammy Hagar says his bass playing skills were never fully utilized. So, in preparing to record the first Chickenfoot album, he and Anthony decided not to repeat that mistake.

Chickenfoot drummer Chad Smith wasn’t able to head out with the band for its fall “Road Test” tour due to his commitments to his “other” band, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, so Kenny Aronoff manned the kit in his absence. The ‘Foot did test runs of material from the recently released album ‘III’ and Smith was there in spirit. He kept in touch with his mates the entire time and may have even watched so

Sammy Hagar has accused his former bandmates in Van Halen of using their ex-bassist Michael Anthony‘s backing vocals via tape in concerts on their 2008 tour with singer David Lee Roth, even though Anthony was not performing with the band at the time.

It's just a 30-second clip -- a riff, really -- and you'll have to wait until September to hear the full album, but if you've been eager for a taste of the new Chickenfoot record, the band has what you're looking for.

Rock supergroups have always been notorious for flaming out quickly, so when we found out Sammy Hagar was teaming up with Joe Satriani, Michael Anthony, and Chad Smith to form Chickenfoot, we knew only time would tell if they stood the test of time. But in spite of the scheduling difficulties (and, no doubt, ego-juggling) that comes with a collaboration this size, the band has managed to defy the