Former METALLICA bassist Jason Newsted says that he almost joined an all-star VAN HALEN tribute band six months ago featuring drummer Alex Van Halen and guitarist Joe Satriani.
Speaking with The Palm Beach Post, Newsted says he was looked at by VAN HALEN drummer Alex Van Halen who had already tapped guitarist Joe Satriani to perform in the project.
Newsted agreed to travel to California to jam and see if it felt right, but he eventually backed out.
“How could you?” he said. “There’s nobody that can top it, so how do you show it honor? I didn’t want it to be viewed as a money grab. And then it kind of just all fizzled.”
Last June, Eddie Van Halen’s son Wolfgang Van Halen told SiriusXM’s “Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk” it would be “great” to eventually organize an Eddie Van Halen tribute show. “It’s not in the immediate plans, ’cause that’s a lot of moving parts that you’ve gotta corral to get that to happen. But I definitely think it should happen. Absolutely,” he said.
When asked how he sees a tribute concert coming together with different musicians taking part, he said: “I have no idea. All I know is that the focus should a hundred percent be on Pop. While it could be a celebration of VAN HALEN and the band’s history, I think more than anything, it should be focused on him… It’s a tall ask and a big thing to figure out. But I do think it should happen at some point.”