Michael Anthony Reflects on Van Halen’s Rock Hall Induction

Michael Anthony, like many Van Halen fans, still looks back at the band's 2007 induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as a bittersweet moment. Understandably, there's a sense of honor, but there's also a major sense of "what could have been."

The former Van Halen bassist touched on this during a recent appearance on The Hook Rocks! podcast. Even when honored by the Rock Hall, the past and present members of the band just couldn't bury the hatchet. Only Anthony and Sammy Hagar showed up to the ceremony, and at that point, neither of them was in the band. Both David Lee Roth and Alex Van Halen declined to attend. Meanwhile, Eddie Van Halen was the only member with a legitimate excuse not to attend, due to being in rehab.

Anthony noted, "I turned to Sammy during the show, I forget who was on stage playing, and we were sitting at our table, and I go, ‘Sammy, could you imagine if all of us, if we were all here, and everybody got along, and we got up there? We would kick the ass out of this thing! It'd be an induction ceremony that nobody would ever forget.’ Sadly enough, it wasn’t to be.”

In case you missed the initial announcement, the Rock Hall 2024 class is as follows:

(Given to a performing artist or group whose music and performance style have directly influenced and helped inspire and evolve rock & roll and music that has impacted youth culture.)  

(Given to artists, musicians, songwriters and producers whose originality and influence creating music have had a dramatic impact on music.)

(Given to non-performing industry professionals who, through their dedicated belief and support of artists and their music have had a major influence on the creative development and growth of rock & roll and music that has impacted youth culture. ) 

The 2024 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will take place on Saturday, October 19 at the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland, Ohio. As previously reported, the 2024 ceremony will live stream on Disney+. An edited special will air on ABC at a later date, which will be available on Hulu the next day.

John Sykes, chairman of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation, said in a statement, "Rock & Roll is an ever-evolving amalgam of sounds that impacts culture and moves generations. This diverse group of inductees each broke down musical barriers and influenced countless artists that followed in their footsteps."

For the first time this year, the Rock Hall induction class was announced on American Idol. Host Ryan Seacrest and judge/2022 Rock Hall inductee Lionel Richie did the honors.

The Rock Hall noted in a press release, "Four out of the eight inductees in the Performer category were on the ballot for the first time, including Cher, Foreigner, Kool & the Gang and Peter Frampton." However, it should also be noted that Ozzy Osbourne was on the ballot for the first time as a solo artist, despite being eligible since 2005.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is one of the most prestigious and controversial institutions in music. Every year, music fans can't help but complain and rant about who's in, who should be in and every other argument you can think of. Honestly, it's sort of nice to have such a reliable constant in life. It's the music nerd's version of "death and taxes," and that's rather beautiful if you stop and think about it.

Of course, in order to be nominated and inducted into the Rock Hall, 25 years must have passed from the time of an artist's first released recording. In the vastness of music history, this means many artists are eligible, but very few are inducted. Of those inducted, even fewer are inducted more than once.

For this list, we're focusing on the very exclusive group of artists that are the Rock Hall's multiple inductees. Some of the artists in this group are obvious, while some might be surprising. Keep scrolling to discovery who's all a multi-inductee and learn some other fun facts, too.

The 2024 Rock Hall class was announced on April 21 on American Idol. This year's class truly has something for everyone. The inductees include the following:

(Given to a performing artist or group whose music and performance style have directly influenced and helped inspire and evolve rock & roll and music that has impacted youth culture.)  

(Given to artists, musicians, songwriters and producers whose originality and influence creating music have had a dramatic impact on music.)

(Given to non-performing industry professionals who, through their dedicated belief and support of artists and their music have had a major influence on the creative development and growth of rock & roll and music that has impacted youth culture. ) 

The 2024 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will take place on Saturday, October 19 at the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland, Ohio. As previously reported, the 2024 ceremony will live stream on Disney+. An edited special will air on ABC at a later date, which will be available on Hulu the next day.