Former Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony told Rollingstone.com today that he found out he was fired through the Internet. No kidding.

Eddie Van Halen's 16-year-old Wolfgang will take over Anthony's duties for the tour that begins later this month.

"I can understand that he wants his kid to play with him," Anthony told RS. "If I had a kid like that, I’d like to have him perform with me, too. It was kind of funny when I first heard about it being a Van Halen 'reunion.' "

You gotta give Anthony credit for being pleasant about his situation. On his official website's blog, Anthony goes on to say:

"Alot of you have been asking about the upcoming Van Halen tour and my response to it. It's not that I'm not touring with Van Halen because I'm going out with Sammy, I'm going out with Sammy because I was not invited to do the VH tour. Sammy told me that if I was asked to be part of the VH tour and decided to do it, it would be totally cool, and it would not tarnish our friendship in the least!! Well it's not to be, and life goes on. I'll still be out there with Sam, and I can't wait to do some partying with all of you."

Word has it that die-hard Anthony fans are planning on wearing shirts to the concert that say "Where is Michael Anthony?" (Wow, sort of a Steel Dragon moment, isn't it?)

Still, Anthony can't resist the high road, adding on his blog: "One last note from myself to all the Van Halen fans out there who will be attending their shows...Wolfgang is a great kid, so don't judge him too harshly. I'm sure he'll do just fine!"

[Photo from madanthonycafe.com]