| November 20, 2009 |
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After being passed over for three years by the committee, Van Halen was officially announced to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in a March 12th ceremony at New York City's historic Waldorf-Astoria Hotel.
Of the six members who have been in the band, five were chosen to be inducted. Eddie Van Halen, Alex Van Halen, Michael Anthony, David Lee Roth, and Sammy Hagar all made the cut, but former Extreme frontman Gary Cherone, who sang on 1998's "Van Halen III" and the subsequent tour, was left off of the induction list.
It is not yet known what members of the band will be present for the ceremony, or whether the band will perform live. Eddie and Alex have not made any official statements regarding the induction announcement, but the other members of the band have.
Bassist Michael Anthony posted on his personal web site, MadAnthonyCafe.com, "I was very excited and honored to learn that Van Halen would be inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this March. I want to thank Eddie, Alex, Sammy and Dave. It has been an amazing experience and I am very proud of what we have accomplished."
Former lead singer David Lee Roth gave a short official statement saying, "It is an honor and a privilege to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame."
The band's second mouthpiece, Sammy Hagar, has been the most vocal after hearing of the induction announcement, saying "I thought it was the second or third year we were eligible, but's it's cool.. It definitely was inevitable, wasn't it?!"
Hagar also stated that he was excited about the prospects of going to the ceremony, but if there was going to be any animosity between band members, he may opt to not show up. "And the celebration, I think, together that we should really have. Under these circumstances, everyone should be proud of this and everyone should be respectful to each other: 'Jeez, couldn't have done it without you.' Everyone should have that attitude. That's what it's supposed to be anyway! My contribution will be to try to make it like that, the best I can. If it turns into an ugly event I'll just leave. I wouldn't ever be part of something that wasn't respectful and honorable, my God. It makes me nervous, to be honest with you! ... If it's not functional, I wouldn't even be part of it."
Sammy was also very complimentary of the singer he took over for when he said, "That's the way I feel. Dave is highly responsible for starting this band, getting it to that point. There's no question about it. He deserves as much credit as Eddie, any day. Eddie's a genius guitar player, but as we all know a genius guitar player without a great frontman is just gonna be on a gold level, not a hundred-million-record level! And that's all there is to it."
It will be very interesting to watch in the coming months how the whole situation shakes out, especially with reports that Eddie's 15-year old son Wolfgang has now taken over the bass playing duties from Anthony, and the band is technically without a lead singer.
Four other acts will be inducted with Van Halen. They are, 80's alternative giants REM, rapper Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, the Ronettes, and punk rocker Patti Smith.
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