Though the writing’s been on the wall for some time, it appears that Michael Anthony’s ousting from Van Halen is officially complete, if a recent TMZ.com report is to be believed.
From TMZ.com:
TMZ is first to confirm that Van Halen has hired 15-year-old Wolfgang Van Halen — the son of guitarist Eddie Van Halen and estranged wife Valerie Bertinelli, and nephew of drummer Alex Van Halen — as the new bassist for the band.
Wolfgang replaces longtime bassist Michael Anthony, who left the band earlier this year.
Eddie told Howard Stern during an on-air interview back in September that Wolfgang had been playing bass with Ed and Al during studio sessions, but, with the group in a constant state of who-knows-what, there really hasn’t been a definitive announcement that Mike is out, Wolfie’s in, or if the band Van Halen still exists and has any plans to release new music at some point in the future. The TMZ.com report does little to change that. Guess we’ll just have to wait and see—you know, the same thing we’ve been doing for years now …