(antiMusic) There was a lot of rumbling when Van Halen reunited with David Lee Roth and decided to tour with Eddie's son Wolfgang instead of original bassplayer Michael Anthony. Now Eddie Van Halen says that Anthony wasn't fired, but quit the group. RollingStone.com interviewed Eddie Van Halen and when the discussion turned to Chickenfoot, the new group featuring his former bandmates Michael Anthony and Sammy Hagar, Van Halen had this to say, "I wish them well. The funny thing is that everyone who quits the band always claims they got fired by me. Hey, I'm not the bad guy here. When Hagar left the band, Mike went with him. Then when we get back together with Dave, and all of a sudden, he wants back in. It's like, 'No, dude, you quit the band.' So my son became the bass player. But we didn't give Mike the boot to have my son play. He was around. We didn't have a bass player. 'Hey Wolfie, you want to play?'"
As for the future of the current incarnation of Van Halen, Eddie told Rolling Stone "It wasn't just a reunion one-off thing. I've already gone to Dave's house four or five times over the last month. I've got so much music. It's just trying to figure out what Dave's into because we haven't written together in a long time. But it's great. It feels like we've always felt in the beginning. But I'm sober, so it's different. He's sober, so it's different. It's a wonderful feeling." - Read the Rolling Stone interview here
