Alex Van Halen Reveals Shocking Truth About Michael Anthony's Crucial Role in Van Halen

[@bobmerrifield3371]

Edward was drinking heavily when Mike left the band and Mike didn’t leave LEAVE the band. he wanted to play and Sammy was his only option at that time, but Edward took it to heart and felt betrayed the same way he felt Dave betrayed them when he left in 1984

[@toms4442]

Mike was so essential that the bothers drop his pay and robed him of future royalties. No wonder he wanted to play with Sammy! Loyalty is a 2 way street, tobacco the Van Halen borthers never learned what it meant. Rip to Edward and hopefully Alex will come to terms with his loss.

[@agentmay0]

This is nothing new. It is well known that Michael background vocals were great. What I really enjoyed about Alex's new book was Hagars reaction...simply PRICELESS.

[@FloridaDreamHouse]

More AI bullshit. What is the source for this "interview"?

[@billbreed]

Ya well let’s hear it from the mouth of Alex…😩

[@SmedleyWarIsaRacket]

Well there are tens of millions of Van Halen fans that will never see it the way this video purports that Alex' sees it. Also it is revealed Michael had tensions with all the other band members? so why does Alex not speak about Alex and his tension with Michael, instead talking about Michael and Eddie and their tension? Michael Anthony was stiffed, wronged and treated badly. I feel like this is a KISS situation and Alex and Eddie are Gene and Paul and Dave and Michael are Ace and Peter! Van Halen will always be Alex, Eddie, Dave, and Michael, anything else is something else.

[@showtime951]

@SmedleyWarIsaRacket - Tens & tens of millions of fans will agree and perhaps disagree with Alex, Smedley. They will certainly agree that Michael was the easy-going, rock steady, high-pitch and harmony special sauce which provided the melody on so much of the Van Halen anthology. As far as Michael Anthony's ability as a bassist, the only bad thing anyone's ever heard about his bass playing over 50 years came as two condescending sentences from Edward's mouth at an extremely difficult, challenging, and bitter time in Ed's life. Unfortunately, those words said more about Edward than about Michael. Even legends make mistakes and Edward was human. Why does Alex not go into the tension with Michael more? I believe because Edward is dead and can't defend himself and because Michael is a class-act and probably will let sleeping dogs lie. He doesn't want payback or anyone's legacy tarnished. That is not all a slight on Alex! Nobody else had their only brother, the face of the franchise, arguably the greatest, most innovative and influential guitarist in history be completely "lost". Marriage over, band broken-up (again), absolutely abusing alcohol, cigarettes and meth (allegedly), in physical pain or under surgical repair (arthritis, hips), and suffering from several year painful, debilitating international treatment of Cancer. By the way he also would like to go out on the road again (How much life is left?) with my son who has become pretty fucking good. "I think I have earned that!", Ed might say. How or why would Alex stop that? For you...for me....for the only REAL Van Halen.

[@listenup7284]

Watch his bass solos.. they make gene Simmons look like geddy lee. Since the music is all guitar and drum driven I find it easy to believe Ed told him what to play. The only other ""success" he had was doing covers with Sammy and the underwhelming chicken foot.

[@duncansutherland47]

Agreed, Alex at least acknowledges the essential roll Michael played. I feel it’s a bit like KISS as well.

[@showtime951]

@@listenup7284 - You remind me of a lot of people I know who are relatively smart. They make the quantum leap in their minds to believing they are very smart, or farther from fact, intelligent. I took way too much time deciding which way I would approach a response to this less than genius Michael Anthony career summary. So I'll make it educational... Alex and Edward were two highly-motivated, almost singular thinking, self-taught instrument playing brothers who played with and off of each other like a planes fuselage and wings. With a glance, stare, wink, shoulder dip, frown, point, hip move, arm raise....the message, in the studio or on the stage, was sent and received. Edward wrote virtually all the music and Roth virtually all the words. Michael's responsibilities were to be a professionally competent bassist, provide significant stage presence, provide backing lead vocal, and high, harmonizing background vocal. His bass had to be the heartbeat, the unwavering beat that allowed the extraordinary talent and sound weave in and out of to remain platinum-selling, event sell-out rock. Since Edward wrote the music and played the bass there is no doubt he composed the original bass lines but if Michael would have played like Geddy Lee, Van Halen would have been Prog. If that had happened, they may all have become waiters, gardners, gay porn stars, plumbers, or worse, attorneys. I'll take your response off the air...