Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony was recently interviewed by Steve Gorman - former drummer for The Black Crowes - on Steve Gorman Rocks!, a syndicated FM radio show designed for classic rock stations.

When asked how much work had been done (in 1985) before it was obvious that Sammy Hagar was going to be the new singer for Van Halen, Anthony replied: "We played probably for about ten minutes tops, and we knew that we had something happening. We had a couple of songs that would end up on the 5150 record; I think they were 'Good Enough' and… there was another one; there was a couple of them that were pretty much written. And Sammy... we played it for him, and we said, 'Just sing. Just sing something.' And there were bits that he actually sang that ended up - and I kid you not - on the album. The chemistry was just such, like, 'Wow!'"

However, according to Anthony, not everybody was as enamoured with Hagar as the band was. "Here we had everybody - (our record label) Warner Brothers, our management, our lawyers - going, 'Oh my God. David Lee Roth's gone.' Warner Brothers wanted us to change the name of the band. Because they had a feeling if Dave ever returned... they thought that was such a strong identity. I remember Eddie (Van Halen - guitarist) and Alex (Van Halen - drummer), we were at Warner Brothers, and they were yelling, going, 'Hey, hey, this is our last name. This is our careers. And this is it - Van Halen.'"

In an interview with 95.5 KLOS host Marci Wiser, Hagar revealed he was part of the aforementioned discussion with the record label. Following is an excerpt from the interview, available below.

Hagar: "Our managers and lawyers, and the president of the record company, and the band was all in a room when we asked for permission for me to join the band. It was official. Everybody came and said 'We wanna have a meeting.' We were in the studio and we played 'Why Can't This Be Love' and Mo Austin (Warner label boss) went, 'Oh, I smell money.' He thought it was just the greatest. Then he said 'Did you guys ever think about maybe changing the name to, like, Van Hagar or something?' And I know what they were thinking: 'If this doesn't work, at least you can go back with Van Halen again, but if you're Van Halen and it don't work, now you've ruined Van Halen.' Eddie Van Halen - no one else -said, 'Fuck that. This is Van Halen with a new singer...' and everybody said, 'Okay. Word. Gospel.' I was a hundred percent on board with it. It was Van Halen with a new singer. I would have been embarrassed to be Van Hagar. I would have said, 'Let's just change it back to Mammoth (Van Halen's original name) or something; go back to the beginning."

Sammy Hagar recorded four studio albums with Van Halen - 5150 (1986), OU812 (1988), For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge (1991), and Balance (1995) - all of which hit #1 on the U.S. chart.

Sammy Hagar & The Circle have announced five shows for Florida, due to take place between May 23rd and June 2nd. They have issued the following statement:

"Sammy Hagar & The Circle are heading back on the road! New tour dates. Excited to bring back live music while keeping fans' safety in mind. Find more info about COVID protocol and safety measures by visiting each venues' website. Go to RedRocker.com for tickets & more details"

May
23 - Key West, FL - Key West Amphitheater 
25 - Orlando, FL - Dr. Phillips Center 
26 - Orlando, FL - Dr. Phillips Center

June 
1 - St. Augustine, FL - St. Augustine Amphitheater 
2 - St. Augustine, FL - St. Augustine Amphitheater