Welcome to the 2018 hennemusic Rock News Awards.
Over the next ten days, we’ll be counting down the Top 10 Rock News stories of the past year.
Finalists for the 9th annual hennemusic Rock News Awards are chosen by readers: the Rock News Story Of The Year is determined by page views, while the Rock News Artist Of The Year is based on the combined total page views of the top 50 hennemusic rock news stories of the past twelve months.
The 2018 hennemusic Rock News Awards winners will be announced on Thursday, December 27.
Rock News Artist of The Year No. 10 – VAN HALEN
Inactive since wrapping up a North American tour in 2015, Van Halen left fans wondering if 2018 was the year they might return to action as it marked the 40th anniversary of their self-titled debut album.
A pair of documentaries about the band made headlines in January, with news of one in production and one trying to be shut down from production.
Former VH bassist Michael Anthony confirmed that he was interviewed for a documentary, but few details were really known about the project at the time.
Sessions with Anthony and Sammy Hagar appeared in the final version of the program, which was broadcast on the Reelz Network in June as an episode of the series “Breaking The Band”, where it received mixed reviews for several reasons, including the lack of participation of anyone named Van Halen or David Lee Roth.
Meanwhile, Eddie Van Halen filed a lawsuit against a videographer over his attempted release of a scrapped 2006 Van Halen documentary that featured footage of a series of rehearsals with the guitarist, drummer Alex Van Halen and Eddie’s son, Wolfgang, prior to the 2007 return of Roth.
After Eddie shut down the project, reports indicated that videographer Andrew Bennett threatened to release it years later after claiming he was never paid but, according to court documents, the rocker secured the ownership rights to the material as part of a 2015 settlement over the issue.
In July, producer Michael Baskette revealed that Wolfgang had completed recording his debut solo record, which he’d been working on since 2015; there’s still no word on when, or if, the project will be released.
Roth kept the VH brand alive during an early September performance at a benefit for the Brent Shapiro Foundation in Beverly Hills, CA, where his four-song set include the 1984 hits “Panama” and “Jump”, a cover of The Kinks’ “You Really Got Me” (VH’s debut single), and a solo hit he had with “California Girls.”
The frontman gave VH fans something to hope for in 2019 while doing media interviews to promote a pair of business ventures, including a skin-care line for tattoo maintenance and an outdoor gear company.
Not only did Roth hint that VH would return next year, he suggested the group would be playing Yankee Stadium on a bill with a lot of guests.
“Next time my rock band will be playing the same place that the Yankees play,” Roth told Vulture, adding “I can say that I contacted colleagues about being part of the show – Metallica, Guns N’ Roses, Jason Aldean, the Foo Fighters, [Eric] Church, and [Chris] Stapleton. And they all said that, if everything happens, they would certainly be involved.”
Stay tuned…
See also:
Search Van Halen at hennemusic
2018 hennemusic Rock News Awards announced
The Eagles sweep the 2017 hennemusic Rock News Awards
AC/DC sweep the 2016 hennemusic Rock News Awards
Van Halen and KISS top the 2015 hennemusic Rock News Awards
Van Halen sweep 2014 hennemusic Rock News Awards
Van Halen and Pearl Jam top the 2013 hennemusic Rock News Awards
Van Halen dominate the 2012 hennemusic Rock News Awards
Van Halen win two hennemusic Rock News Awards
Guns N’ Roses named hennemusic’s Rock News Artist of The Year
Jimmy Page’s 2011 plans named hennemusic’s Rock News Story Of The Year
