Planet Us

Planet Us (pronounced Planet-uss) was a short-lived supergroup that formed in 2002 with Sammy Hagar on lead vocals, Neal Schon on guitar, Michael Anthony on bass, and Deen Castronovo on drums. The band later recruited a fifth member - famed guitarist Joe Satriani - when their original choice, Slash, turned them down. The band's name Planet Us has been alternatively spelled as Planet US in various publications.

History

In 2002, with some down time between Journey albums and Van Halen still unreformed at this point, the members decided to kickstart a separate project. The band was announced in early 2002 yet Schon and Castronovo were still recording and subsequently toured with Journey that summer, while Hagar was touring with David Lee Roth in the successful 'Sans Halen' tour. The new group then planned to reconvene in the Fall but the initial recording sessions scheduled in San Francisco were again delayed until January 2003 while Castronovo recovered from an illness.

In the end, only two songs were written and recorded under the Planet Us name: "Vertigo" and "Peeping Through a Hole" and neither was officially released by the band itself. "Vertigo" was originally intended for the first Spider-Man movie; however, it was turned down by Sony (correctly, says Sammy) for being "too f---in' heavy!" "Peeping Through a Hole," a very dark song about an abused child, was later re-recorded by another of Neal Schon's projects, Soul SirkUS with Jeff Scott Soto on vocals, and released as "Peephole" on the Soul SirkUS "World Play" CD.