Well, 2007's Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame inductees have finally been announced, and we are thrilled to report that Van Halen have made the cut! Hall Of Fame ceremonies sure have been pretty snoozy lately, but (joy!) with the sundry estranged members Van Halen in attendance, you know things will be interesting this year. (For those needing a VH refresher course, here's the Cliff Notes: Over the past quarter-century, original frontman David Lee Roth was brutally ousted; second singer Sammy Hagar left under similarly acrimonious circumstances; bassist Michael Anthony was replaced by Eddie Van Halen's 15-year-old son, Wolfgang; and, in an instance of shark-jumping bad enough to make even Fonzie himself cringe, VH recruited Extreme crooner Gary Cherone for the career-killing Van Halen III album.) This week, the original VH members managed to get along well enough to collaborate on a superbrief joint statement ("It is an honor and a privilege and we would like to thank the fans and the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame committee," they--or their respective publicists--blandly remarked), but when the actual ceremony takes place in March we can expect the most dysFUNctional band reunion since, well, that time that Eddie and Dave shared the stage at the 1996 Video Music Awards for about 38 disastrous seconds. We just hope VH hold it together long enough to tear through a few classics from their Diamond Dave era; and hey, if everything falls apart before they get a chance to perform the Cabo Wabo crap from the Van Hagar years, quite frankly, we'll be OK with that...
