Longtime Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony was never able to reconnect with Eddie Van Halen before the guitarist's death this past fall, but he says the same won't be true for himself and Alex Van Halen.

Anthony parted ways with Van Halen in 2006 and for years lamented the rift between singer Sammy Hagar and himself and the two Van Halen brothers. Aside from running into Alex years ago on vacation, Anthony had no contact with his former bandmates for close to 15 years.

Anthony said in a recent radio interview that he spoke with Alex soon after getting the news of Eddie's passing. The conversation left the bassist hopeful about their relationship going forward.

"I spoke briefly with Alex right after Eddie passed, but I wanted them to have their privacy," Anthony said. "...Alex has been pretty much grieving, or however you wanna put it, pretty much been to himself. So I'm just kind of letting that happen, and I'm sure at one point we'll talk again here or even get together."

Alex and Eddie were practically inseparable for their near-50-year musical career together, rarely performing without one another. The drummer released one brief statement following his brother's death and has yet to grant any interviews, leaving press relations to Eddie's son Wolfgang Van Halen, who recently launched his long-awaited solo career.

Wolfgang replaced Anthony in Van Halen 14 years ago. He told Howard Stern in November that he was looking forward to Van Halen's planned 2019 reunion tour so he could finally get to know his predecessor.

While the two have yet to speak directly, they have texted "and everything is all good, obviously," Anthony added.

Hagar and Anthony revealed Wednesday morning in a conversation with Q104.3 New York that Eddie's family is planning a tribute concert in his memory and that they will take part, along with other former Van Halen members and friends of the band.

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