Van Halen [ tickets ], a group that has been virtually dormant since its 1998 world tour ended, has finally announced that it is gearing up for its return to the road.

According to information posted at the band's official website, the group is making plans for a tour that will include stops in Detroit; East Rutherford, NJ; Greensboro, NC; Hershey, PA; Kansas City, MO; Las Vegas; Philadelphia; St. Louis; St. Paul, MN; Wilkes-Barre, PA; and Worcester, MA.

While the band's site currently lists only cities, sans dates or venues, it appears that the tour will run from at least June through October, according to concert-promoter Clear Channel Entertainment's website.

Listings on Clear Channel's site show that the group is due to perform at Hershey's HersheyPark Stadium on June 13, at Philadelphia's Wachovia Center on June 16, and at Pittsburgh's Mellon Arena on Oct. 10.

The piecemeal tour information comes after months of fan and media speculation that singer Sammy Hagar and his former bandmates had re-teamed, and were planning just such an outing.

In November, Hagar--who split with the group in 1996--confirmed that he had patched up relations with guitarist Edward Van Halen [ tickets ] and drummer Alex Van Halen, but stopped short of confirming a full-blown reunion.

Sources say that the reunited quartet has recorded two or three new songs expected to turn up on a forthcoming best-of album.

A spokesperson for the band had no comment.

As previously reported, the group is believed to be working with high-powered manager Irving Azoff, who had been representing Hagar as a solo artist.

The scenario is reminiscent of when Hagar first joined the band in 1985, after original singer David Lee Roth set out on a solo career. Hagar's then-manager, Ed Lefler, became Van Halen's manager, and guided the group through one of its most successful periods; under Lefler's watch, the band released three chart-topping studio albums, as well as one live set.

After Lefler died of cancer in 1993, the group--over Hagar's objections--enlisted as manager Alex Van Halen's then-brother-in-law, Ray Danniels. During Danniels' tenure, the band released one studio album with Hagar, 1995's "Balance." After a tour in support of that set ended, relations between Hagar and the group--as well as Hagar and Danniels--deteriorated, and ultimately culminated in Hagar's departure from the band.

Danniels tried to orchestrate a reunion between Roth and Van Halen, but the attempt failed after yielding a pair of new songs featured on a 1996 best-of set. The group ended up filling the frontman vacancy with former Extreme vocalist Gary Cherone, whom Danniels also was managing at the time. The band released one album with Cherone, 1998's "Van Halen 3." The set was a critical and commercial failure, and Cherone left shortly after work began on a follow-up in 1999.

During the years since Cherone headed for the door, an incessant string of reunion rumors have surfaced, but solid news from the Van Halen camp has been almost non-existent; prior to Monday's (3/22) tour announcement, the most-recent posts in the "News" section of the band's official website date back to May of 2002, at which time Eddie Van Halen confirmed year-old rumors that he had cancer (the guitarist is now reportedly cancer free).

Hagar, meanwhile, remained plenty busy during his time in exile; the singer released four studio albums, and last year issued a live album and DVD.