Sammy Hagar has launched a staunch defence of former Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony – signed off with the message “Fuck you, Eddie.”
Former Van Halen singer Hagar called out the band’s guitarist and leader over recent comments in which he claimed he had to show Anthony how to play his bass parts via video tutorials. In the interview with Billboard, EVH says he brought his son Wolfgang into the band because of Anthony’s limitations both on bass and vocally.
Now Hagar – who works with Anthony in The Circle – has jumped to his friend’s defence, calling Eddie Van Halen “a liar.”
In a video released via Facebook, Hagar says: “Michael Anthony is a bad motherfucker. Fuck you, Eddie Van Halen, for saying that about Mikey. You’re a liar.
“For Eddie to say he had to show him what to play and had to teach him all those songs, that is the biggest line of bullshit I’ve ever heard in my life. I was in that band for 11 years, and there was never a video camera involved of Eddie showing him what to play.
“Eddie would tell him what to play once in a while, and say, ‘No, Mike, don’t play with that many notes. Just stay on one note — boom, boom, boom – so that I can fuck up and nobody will know it.’
“I don’t know why they go after him like that. He doesn’t deserve it. He’s one of the greatest rock’n’roll bass players ever in the world. Michael Anthony is a top five rock’n’roll bass player in the world. Any bass player will tell you that, any musician will tell you that. Listen to him play on The Circle.”
This week, Hagar claimed Van Halen were trying to prevent him from playing songs he recorded while with the band. And in April, he took aim at current Van Halen singer David Lee Roth’s “rough” vocals.
Van Halen recently released live album Tokyo Dome In Concert and start a US tour next month.
VAN HALEN US TOUR DATES
Jul 05: Seattle White River Amphitheatre, WA
Jul 07: Portland Amphitheater Northwest, OR
Jul 09: Concord Concord Pavilion, CA
Jul 11: San Bernardino San Manuel Amphitheater, CA
Jul 14: Irvine Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre, CA
Jul 16: Mountain View Shoreline Amphitheatre, CA
Jul 18: Salt Lake City USANA Amphitheatre, UT
Jul 20: Morrison Red Rocks Amphitheatre, CO
Jul 22: Kansas City Cricket Wireless Amphitheater, MO
Jul 24: Chicago First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre, IL
Jul 26: St. Louis Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre, MO
Jul 28: Pittsburgh First Niagra Pavilion, PA
Jul 30: Bangor Darling’sWaterfront Pavilion, ME
Aug 01: Boston Xfinity Center, MA
Aug 03: Cleveland Blossom Music Center, OH
Aug 05: London Western Fair District, ON
Aug 07: Toronto Molson Canadian Amphitheatre, ON
Aug 09: Holmdel PNC Bank Arts Center, NJ
Aug 11: Hartford Xfinity Center, CT
Aug 13: Wantagh Nikon At Jones Beach Theater, NY
Aug 23: Hershey Hershey Park, PA
Aug 25: Darien Center Darien Lake Performing Arts Center, NY
Aug 27: Camden Susquehanna Bank Center, NJ
Aug 29: Washington DC Jiffy Lube Live
Aug 31: Cincinnati Riverbend Music Center, OH
Sep 02: Indianapolis Klipsch Amphitheatre, IN
Sep 04: Detroit DTE Energy Music Theater, MI
Sep 06: Bethel Bethel Woods Center for the Arts, NY
Sep 09: Raleigh, NC, Walnut Creek Amphitheater
Sep 11: Charlotte PNC Music Pavilion, NC
Sep 13: Tampa Midflorida Credit Union Amphitheatre, FL
Sep 15: West Palm Beach Coral Sky Amphitheatre, FL
Sep 17: Birmingham Oak Mountain Amphitheatre, AL
Sep 21: Austin Austin360 Amphitheater, TX
Sep 23: Dallas Gexa Energy Pavilion, TX
Sep 25: Houston Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, TX
Sep 28: Phoenix Ak-Chin Pavilion, AZ
Sep 30: San Diego Sleep Train Amphitheatre, CA
Oct 02: Hollywood Hollywood Bowl, CA
