by piecesofeight » Thu Sep 20, 2007 12:34 pm
Hagar: "I wouldn't do it without Mike. On the last reunion, and I'm telling you this straight up — this is stuff I've never really said actually — they wanted to throw Mike out then. Why? I don't know. I still can't understand why Ed [Van Halen] has it out for Mike. Mike is the nicest guy in the world, and he's an unbelievable player. He's also an incredible singer and a professional. Mike is a guy who goes out every night and does a perfect job — a 10 every night — it's not even a 9.5. Why would you want to get rid of a guy like that? I don't know what happened between them somewhere when I wasn't around, but I just said, "No, I won't do it without Mike." My manager said, "You put a gun in Mike's hand to negotiate with these guys." I said, “you're damn right because I'm telling you, the agency, the promoters and the band that I will not go out and do a VAN HALEN reunion show without Michael Anthony." Obviously, someone else doesn't feel that way because Mike isn't there. Honest to God — it's none of my business. If Eddie wants to play with his son, fine. I love my son too, but I got him a different job. (laughs) I just think that it should be Mike. They will do good without him, and it's a shame. At the same time, I just think the fans are gonna walk away with a little bit of a disappointment because Mike's a big part of that band."