VAN HALEN INDUCTED INTO THE ROCK HALL, EXPLAINS ROTH DEPARTURE

Van Halen was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame with R.E.M., Patti Smith, Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five and the Ronettes at New York City’s Waldorf-Astoria on Monday night (March 12). While the ceremony had its share of stars the big story was the absence of Van Halen’s key members.

Van Halen’s Michael Anthony and Sammy Hagar accepted the award on behalf of the band, and gave a shout out to the rehabbing Eddie Van Halen.

[Anthony] “Uh, anyway, first off I’d like to say God Bless You to Edward Van Halen. I wish you were here buddy. He couldn’t be here tonight. He’s home getting some help, and I love you, man.” [Hagar] “I can’t tell you how much I wish everyone was here tonight, and it was out of our control and it was out of some other people’s control. I think it’s a good thing I think Eddie is going to come out the other side a better person, and we will get our buddy back. It’s just hard for Mike and I to stand here and do this, but but you couldn’t have kept me away with a shotgun. I’m honored to be here. I especially want to thank the powers that be from the Hall Of Fame for including me. They didn’t have to do that. As James Brown said, ‘I feel good,’ sure.”

Backstage the Van Halen duo and Velvet Revolver, who presented the band into the hall, were asked about David Lee Roth and why he wasn’t there.

[Hagar] “Dave bowed out, if you kind of want to know what happened. He wanted to do this and they didn’t want to do this. So they were going to pull out. They pulled out at one point, and then when Dave pulled out they came back in, so it was too late.” [Velvet Revolver’s Scott Weiland] “No, actually we were asked to perform and what happened was, was that he wanted to the song ‘Jump.’ And we felt from an artistic standpoint, and I’m being totally honest with you, that that wasn’t a song that we felt comfortable with. We don’t have keyboards, and to bring a keyboard on stage it wouldn’t work for us. We said we’d do ‘Jamie’s Cryin” or ‘You Really Got Me,’ and he was adamant that that wasn’t OK.”

Anthony and Hagar were also asked about their absence from the current line-up that is being talked about for a summer tour.

[Anthony] “You know, I don’t know. I’m here. I’m ready to play. If the people want to hear it, Sammy and I are out there giving the fans what they want.” [Hagar] “I totally encourage the thing with Dave. I think if Van Halen has any move they should do in their life for the fans right now is a reunion with Dave. They’ve done it with me, they’ve done it with everyone they could possibly do (it with). I think the fans need a Dave reunion and like I said if we all grow up we could all get together and do it for real.”

Anthony is allgedly being replaced by Eddie’s son, Wolfgang. While many struggled to find the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame ceremony on the tube this year, it was aired live on VH1 Classic. An edited version of the ceremony will air on the main channel on March 17.