The story I heard from a friend who's a fan is that Michael Anthony dared play a gig with Sammy one night without Eddie's permission. That was the end of that.

Mike TOURED with Sammy long before he got the final boot from VH. In one of Eddie's drunken, hour-long phone calls to Howard Stern's show or maybe it was that interview Mike did with a Japanese magazine, the final straw was when Mike launched his own brand of hot sauce and went on some radio station to promote it. Of course, the radio showed billed it as the bassist from VH and his new hot sauce. Supposedly, that really set of the brothers. Though I think it was all Ed and Al just goes along with it.

Looks like it is official...

LOS ANGELES, California (Reuters) -- Rock band Van Halen has reunited with the group's original singer David Lee Roth for their first tour together in more than 20 years, they announced on Monday at a news conference.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/Music/08/13/vanhalen.reut/index.html

Dave

I actually watched the announcement live. I was surprised that Dave cut his hair. I was not surprised that he ended up doing all the talking. I believe that is why Dave and Eddie don't really get along. I guess Dave will never tone it down.

I was also surprised of the size of Wolfgang. Let's just say that at 16 years old, he is literally trying to fill the shoes of MA.

Van Halen & David Lee Roth Announce Tour

The Associated Press

LOS ANGELES -- They're in their 50s now, and they've traded their long heavy-metal locks for close-cropped cuts, but the original members of Van Halen are back in business and promise that they're better than ever.

"Usually, when a band comes back like us, it's rockers with walkers," frontman David Lee Roth told reporters at the Four Seasons Hotel here on Monday. "This is anything but."

Van Halen held a press conference to announce a 25-date concert tour beginning Sept. 27 in Charlotte, N.C. The re-formed group features three original members — Roth, guitarist Eddie Van Halen and drummer Alex Van Halen — along with Eddie Van Halen's son, Wolfgang, on bass.

"This is not a reunion," said Roth, 51. "This is a whole new band."

"It is totally blowing our minds and I think it will yours, too," said Eddie Van Halen, 52. "It's better than it's ever been."

With its flamboyant frontman, "Diamond Dave," Van Halen was one of the most popular rock bands of the 1980s. But the group split up in 1985 and the original lineup hasn't performed together since.

"I'm shocked any of us are still vertical," Roth quipped.

He and Eddie Van Halen insisted that the band's reunion isn't just a one-tour deal. After performing throughout North America, Van Halen plans to hit Asia and Australia.

"Then we make an album," Roth said, adding that the group has "lots of dreams, lots of ambitions."

"We really have re-formed this team like a brother team that it never was before," he said.

Wolfgang Van Halen, 16, brings "a young energy and a spirit" to the band, Roth said, adding that the teenage rocker chose the tour's song list, which features "close to 25 of your greatest hits."

"You know every single song, you know every guitar lick, every woo, every kick, every jump, every drum lick," he said.

"We can't afford to shirk that duty."

The band has been rehearsing since October and plans to exceed fans' expectations, Roth said.

"None of us want to give you less than our best," said Eddie Van Halen. "And we are at our best."

More on Van Halen

I'll believe it after they've done a few shows. Still have a hard time paying to see this without Mike.