It turns out that Eddie Van Halen [ tickets ] wasn't kidding when he told Howard Stern during an early September interview that his son, 15-year-old Wolfgang Van Halen, had taken over as the legendary rock group's new bass player.

"What's going to happen is that there's a new member of Van Halen, and that is my son," Van Halen told Stern via telephone during the Sept. 8 interview. "My son is in and [original bassist Michael Anthony] can do whatever he wants."

Despite that statement, the guitarist left the band's future, and his son's role therein, obscured when he added: "The name Van Halen, the family legacy, is going to go on long after I'm gone. This kid is just a natural. I’m going to have him play on a solo record, and it's going to be out--he and I."

Over the past week, however, Eddie's new girlfriend and publicist, Janie Liszewski, has been quoted in a number of reports as confirming that Wolfgang (Eddie's son from his marriage to ex-wife and actress Valerie Bertinelli) is, in fact, the new bassist for the band Van Halen. She has also reportedly said that Eddie, Wolfgang and drummer Alex Van Halen (Eddie's older brother, shown with Eddie in the above photo) have been in the studio writing and rehearsing for a 2007 summer tour, but stopped short of confirming recent widespread rumors that original frontman David Lee Roth will helm the band during that outing.

Meanwhile, Anthony published at his blog earlier this week a message in which he said: "People have been asking … 'Are you in or are you out of any reunion tour?' I want to let everyone know that I have not been contacted by anybody about being part of any VH reunion tour. I'll keep ya posted."

Van Halen last toured in 2004, at which time estranged singer Sammy Hagar [ tickets ]--who replaced Roth in 1985, and then split with the group himself in 1996--returned to the fold. That outing ended with more bad blood between Hagar and Eddie Van Halen, and Anthony has since said that the Van Halen brothers had fired him from the band before negotiating a discounted deal that allowed him to participate in the 2004 run.

Earlier this year, Anthony teamed up with Hagar for a summer tour that featured Hagar performing one set with his solo band, and a second set with his drummer, guitarist and Anthony. Billed as The Other Half, the quartet's setlist was comprised entirely of Van Halen tunes.

Eddie expressed displeasure with the Hagar/Anthony outing during the aforementioned "Stern Show" interview, referring to Hagar--whose nickname is the Red Rocker--as "The Little Red Rocker" and "The Little Red Worm" (the latter in reference to Hagar's tequila business), and Anthony as "Sauce Sobolewski" (a reference to Anthony’s new hot-sauce venture coupled with his real last name).

"Sauce Sobolewski is out touring with The Little Red Rocker ... I mean The Little Red Worm," he told Stern. "I got no problem with these guys, but they're billing themselves as the other half of Van Halen. My brother is the other half of Van Halen. They're out there selling hot sauce and tequila and playing all my songs. It doesn’t bother me. It just makes them a cover band."

For their part, Anthony and Hagar have claimed that Eddie's alcohol consumption derailed the group's 2004 reunion.

Roth, who earlier this year briefly replaced Stern as a morning radio host following Stern's defection to Sirius Satellite Radio, has spent most of the past decade touring sporadically, performing a setlist comprised almost entirely of Van Halen songs dating back to his 1978-1985 tenure with the band. He has publicly maintained for years that he believes a reunion will happen at some point.

Roth's positing coupled with Eddie's statement to Stern that he is open to working with Roth again has fueled the believability of recent unconfirmed reports that Roth will be hitting the road with his former group next summer. Though many fans have spent years clamoring for just such a reunion, it remains to be seen if the group's decision to oust Anthony--a fan favorite whose background vocals have always been a significant part of the band's signature sound--will cause a backlash.

Despite Liszewski's recent statements to the press, the band's official publicity firm responded earlier today with a blanket "no comment" when asked about the current state of Van Halen. At press time, Liszewski had not responded to our request for comment.

Last month, Van Halen was nominated for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.