The manager of Van Halen, Irving Azoff, has confirmed that a stadium-level reunion tour featuring the bands original lineup nearly happened back in 2019.
In a new interview with Pollstar, Azoff revealed that the tour was close to happening, but ultimately fell through on account of Eddie Van Halen’s ongoing health issues.
“We had lots of stops and starts, but there was every intention of doing a summer stadium tour (in 2019), and as the cancer moved around, [Van Halen] was physically unable to do it,” Azoff recalled. “There is no doubt in my mind that it would have been massive.”
“But I’ve never seen anybody fight the fight that [Van Halen] fought over the last 10 years, fighting the cancer,” he mused.
Azoff went on to reflect on the death of his friend, “We were always close, but the past couple of years, when he was really unable to record or play, it became less a client/manager relationship and more just as a friend,” he continued, “I really got to know him. He was an amazing guy, I can’t say enough good things about him.”
Azoff went on to detail the possibility of future, unheard recordings from the late musician seeing the light of day.
“Wolf and Alex will go up to 5150, the studio in Ed’s house, but there’s been a lot of recording over the years,” he shared. “I can’t predict that for sure there will be anything new, but for sure they’re going to look at it.”
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Eddie Van Halen passed away on Tuesday, October 6th following a lengthy battle with lung cancer. His death was confirmed by his son, Wolf.
“I can’t believe I’m having to write this, but my father, Edward Lodewijk Van Halen, has lost his long and arduous battle with cancer this morning,” wrote Wolf.
