When Van Halen reunited with original frontman David Lee Roth in 2006, the long-awaited comeback came with an unexpected twist: bassist Michael Anthony — a member of the band since its earliest days — was nowhere in the lineup.

In his place was a new addition to the Van Halen family: Wolfgang Van Halen, the teenage son of guitarist Eddie Van Halen. The move sparked immediate backlash from some fans, many of whom viewed it as nepotism. But according to drummer Alex Van Halen, Anthony wasn’t pushed out — he simply stopped responding.

Speaking recently to the Brazilian outlet KazaGastão, Alex said the band did reach out to its longtime bass guitarist before moving forward.

“People think there were family influences in how he [Wolfgang] became part of the band, which is simply not true,” he said. “Ed and I, as usual, were in the studio alone, because nobody else tolerated it. They’d rather be at the beach.

“We did call Mike, because we owed him that. We did call him, and he just didn’t answer. I’m not mad at Mike, but we had the same manager. Come on — you’ve gotta work for this.”

According to Alex, Wolfgang’s arrival came about naturally while he and Eddie were working in the studio.

“Nobody showed up,” he recalled. “One day Ed and I were playing, and this bass comes in. It had a nice feel to it. Behind the curtain it was Wolf.”

Wolfgang would go on to play bass on the band’s final studio album, A Different Kind of Truth, released in 2012. He later said his presence also helped bring the group back to the stage, noting that playing with his son was “one of [Eddie’s] favorite things.”

Since his father’s death in 2020, however, Wolfgang has largely avoided leaning on the Van Halen legacy. Apart from appearances such as the Taylor Hawkins Tribute Concert, he has focused on his own project, Mammoth WVH.

Alex says that independence has been intentional.

“He’s very careful that he doesn’t want to be Ed Jr,” the drummer said. “He was in a very tough spot. He could have just continued with the Van Halen stuff, but he decided he was his own man.”

Wolfgang himself has stressed that his musical approach differs from his father’s. Speaking in 2024, he said, “I approach guitar playing more as a producer and more as a drummer than a guitar player. Rhythm is always the first thing for me, and melody is the second. It’s more about songwriting when it comes to Mammoth. Not every song needs a solo.”

Meanwhile, Alex has been working on unreleased Van Halen material recorded with Eddie before his death. The project, reportedly being developed with guitarist Steve Lukather, is intended as a follow-up to A Different Kind of Truth. It’s not yet clear whether Wolfgang will take part or who will provide vocals, though guitarist Steve Vai — who has heard some of the archive recordings — has suggested the music is promising.

He’s worth an estimated $245 million — but Sting says his children shouldn’t expect to inherit it.

The former Police bass guitarist and frontman believes leaving large fortunes to kids can actually do more harm than good.

“I think the worst thing you can do to a kid is to say, ‘You don't have to work,’” Sting says in an interview with journalist Mark Phillips on CBS Sunday Morning. “That's a form of abuse that I hope I'm never guilty of.”

Sting, whose career with Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland helped make The Police one of the biggest bands of the 1980s, says he wants his six children to build their own lives and careers without relying on his wealth.

The band’s five studio albums have sold more than 75 million copies worldwide, helping the singer — born Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner — build a fortune estimated at hundreds of millions of dollars.

But he says financial independence matters more than inheritance.

“All of my kids have been blessed with this extraordinary work ethic, whether it's the DNA of it or whether I've said to them, ‘I’m paying for your education. You've got shoes on your feet. Go to work!’”

“I think there's a kindness there and a trust in them that they will make their own way,” Sting adds. “They're tough, my kids.”

When asked whether his children ever complain about his approach, he jokes: “No — not to my face, they don't.”

Sting first shared his stance publicly in a 2014 interview with The Daily Mail.

“I certainly don't want to leave them trust funds that are albatrosses round their necks,” he said. “They have to work. All my kids know that and they rarely ask me for anything, which I really respect and appreciate.”

“Obviously, if they were in trouble I would help them,” he added. “But I’ve never really had to do that. They have the work ethic that makes them want to succeed on their own merit.”

The 74-year-old musician has two children from his marriage to actress Frances Tomelty — Joe, 49, and Fuchsia, 44 — and four children with producer Trudie Styler: Mickey, 42; Jake, 40; Eliot, 35; and Giacomo, 30.

Sting isn’t the only rock star to embrace a hands-off philosophy with his children. Dave Grohl has similarly said his daughter Violet Grohl built her growing music career without help from him.

The exact value of Sting’s estate could also be affected by an ongoing royalties dispute involving Summers and Copeland. The two musicians have argued they are owed roughly $2 million for their role in shaping Sting’s songs in the studio.

Summers has been particularly outspoken about the group’s biggest hit, “Every Breath You Take.” He says the track was nearly removed from the band’s 1983 album Synchronicity before he devised the electric-guitar riff that became its defining hook.

To mark what would have been Eddie Van Halen’s 71st birthday on January 26, Alex Van Halen shared a glimpse into the past by posted a silent home video of his brother as a young boy playing the instrument with which he would change music.

Although the clip contains no audio, Eddie’s joy is evident as he strums an acoustic guitar. At one point, the camera briefly turns to a young Alex, who flashes a wide grin, a reminder that the Van Halen story was always a shared one.

Accompanying the video, Alex included a message from his nephew, Wolfgang Van Halen: “Al, you and dad changed the world of music.” Wolfgang responded in the comments with three red heart emojis, while his mother, Valerie Bertinelli, added a single white heart.

The post arrived amid a period of renewed creative activity for Alex. Earlier this month, he confirmed he’s working on a new album with Toto guitarist Steve Lukather. Alex has also revealed plans for a new Van Halen anthology book, slated for release later this year, which will follow his 2024 memoir, Brothers.

The birthday tribute was a silent reminder of where the Van Halen journey began.

Ever wondered what Van Halen would have sounded like with no Sam or Dave?

Well, wonder no more. Writer and filmmaker Andrew Bennett is selling rare recordings from the band’s rehearsals at Eddie Van Halen’s 5150 studio. Titled The 5150 Sessions, it contains tracks cut between November 2006 and January 2007 featuring Ed and his brother, Alex, joined by Ed’s son, Wolfgang.

The tracks date from the period after longtime bass guitarist Michael Anthony had been dismissed, but before David Lee Roth rejoined the band for their 2007 reunion tour.

“From the collection of writer and filmmaker Andrew Bennett during his time documenting Van Halen as Wolf joined the band in 2006 and into 2007 leading up to the reunion tour,” the description reads. “These recordings are from rehearsals at 5150 from November 2006 to January 2007, recorded straight to the 5150 soundboard.

“Eddie, Alex, and Wolfgang Van Halen were rehearsing full set lists twice a week, and since this was prior to the return of Dave these recordings are performed with no singer.

“Finally, no Sam versus Dave debates.”

The 10-track LP includes the songs “Unchained,” “Atomic Punk,” “Ain’t Talkin’ Bout Love,” “I’m the One,” “Runnin’ With the Devil,” “Panama,” “Romeo Delight,” “Hot for Teacher,” “On Fire,” and “Somebody Get Me a Doctor.” Samples of each song can be heard at the site.

After Bennett posted about the release on his Facebook account, fans responded, with several saying they’ve received their copies.

Bennett is the author of the photo book Eruption in the Canyon: 212 Days & Nights With the Genius of Eddie Van Halen. The book is a self-published chronicle of the two weeks he spent filming Van Halen in 2004 and living with him from 2006 to 2007.

The author and filmmaker previously posted about about the 5150 Sessions album on Facebook in July. In addition, a now three-month-old Reddit thread reveals that the record has been in some buyer's hands for several months.

There is no word from the Van Halen camp at this time about the album or claims of copyright.

However, Bennett previously ran afoul of Van Halen in 2018 after he shared footage of his time with the electric guitar virtuoso online. At that time Van Halen successfully filed an injunction to halt its release.

The wildfires that swept through Los Angeles in January 2025 had a devastating impact on the city. More than 200,000 people were forced to evacuate, and over 18,000 homes and structures were destroyed as the fires spread across over 520,000 acres of land.

That left a score of musicians having to make some difficult decisions about their gear, and Wolfgang Van Halen was among them as he watched the fires get closer to his father’s legendary 5150 Studios.

In such testing moments, however, you soon learn what really matters to you. For the Mammoth bandleader, there were only two things he couldn’t bear the thought of losing.

“I thought, I’ll have Frankenstein and my wife, and we’re good,” he says in a new interview with Premier Guitar (via Guitar.com).

He’s talking, of course, about the Frankenstein Strat that his father built between 1977 and 1981. It was the result of Eddie Van Halen craving a guitar that blended Gibson tonalities with Stratocaster functionality.

It's the same electric guitar Wolfgang used to track some parts from Mammoth’s 2025 single “The End,” saying that it “makes me feel closer to Pop.”

To ensure the guitar's safety during the fires, he kept it in his car for three weeks, in case he ever needed to hotfoot it to safety.

“We had a U-Haul filled with whatever else we felt was worth saving, which was very tough,” he adds. “Luckily, it didn’t come to that, but it was a traumatizing time we’re still working through.”

“That’s where most of the anxious, doomsday energy in the lyrics [of ‘The End’] comes from. I couldn’t focus on my things.”

He goes on to say that he embraced a darker, rawer sound on the track as he continues to both celebrate his family’s musical legacy and not be defined solely by it.

“In comparison to how I was on the first album, which was very reserved, guitar-wise, I’m starting to worry less about what people think and what people say,” he says. “[‘The End’] has a rawer vibe, and I was happy to keep the rough edges for people to feel like they’re in the studio with me.

“From the beginning, I’ve tried to stand out as my own person, without all of the bullshit that comes with the name and the controversies and everything that’s come before me. It’s just nice to be able to be judged for the music itself, rather than what people think or say about me.”

In another corner of L.A,. Joe Bonamassa's Nerdville home/museum was in danger of succumbing to the wildfires too, prompting him to evacuate as much priceless gear as he could while accepting that “my lifetime of work is not in my hands anymore.”

“It’s something I’d care not to go through again, but a lot of people lost everything, so I consider I’m one of the lucky ones,” he would later tell Guitarist. “A friend and I were able to get all the big stuff out.

“The Flying Vs, there were nine sunburst Les Pauls at the house at that time, a fancy Martin, the Broadcaster... all the big stuff went. We only had one shot, and it was like, I think, 55 guitars and a Dumble and a Trainwreck [a legendary and uber-rare, wooden shell amplifier built by the late Ken Fischer].”

The rest was at the mercy of fate and the flames.

Meanwhile, a free-to-watch documentary about Eddie Van Halen’s Frankenstein and his wider, unrelenting passion for modding guitars was released last year. It was pieced together using interviews from Eddie, the band, and those around him, and it digs deep.

In his own words, it recounts how his first retrofit was of a Univox 12-string guitar. From there, modding became a fascination.

“I liked the guitar,” he said, “but it had 12 strings. I didn't want 12 strings, I wanted six, so I asked the guy, ‘Can I take six strings off and try it?’ and the guy goes, ‘No, but if you buy it, you can do whatever you want.’ So I bought it, took six strings off, and loved it.”

Eddie Van Halen made guitar pyrotechnics his stock in trade when he burst on the scene in 1978. The novelty of what he did — not to mention the excitement it generated and his success with it — spawned a wave of copycats.

But by the early 1990s Eddie had changed his approach. That's not to say he stopped performing two-handed tapping — a technique Harvey Mandel claims he introduced to the guitarist — or whammy-bar dive bombs, but he had started to put the brakes on his love of burning up the frets.

For that matter, he wasn't happy with the need for speed that emerged from his early shred-heavy approach. While Eddie always put melodicism first, other guitarists were all about showing off how fast they could play.

“A lot of people just do all kinds of crazy shit,” he told Guitar Player's then associate editor Jas Obrecht in a recently unearthed 1991 interview. “That’s fine and dandy when you’re young, but playing as fast as you can doesn’t really hold much water for me.

“To me, a solo is to highlight the song, not to show off.”

He admitted that speed was often a side effect of youthfulness. He too played with his foot on the accelerator in his early early days, but by 1991, was was embracing slower, more intentional soloing, perhaps taking a leaf from the book of one of his biggest heroes, Eric Clapton.

“In the guitar polls, I’m not the number-one cat anymore,” he said. “There are faster gunslingers out there…

“What’s important to me now isn’t how fast I can solo; it’s the whole picture. With the whole band thing, the songs are what’s important.

“Big egos are very unhealthy,” he added. “Everybody needs an ego, obviously, but when it starts getting in the way of the overall picture, you know — what a band is and what a band is supposed to be doing — too much ego is bad news.”

His attitude is echoed in recent statements from his son, Wolfgang, who has channeled his efforts into his band Mammoth since his father's death in 2020. Although he's delivered some heartfelt nods to his father, Wolfgang has made it clear that he's his own guitarist.

But, like his dad, he believes a guitar solo should serve the song, and says his upcoming third album, The End, will have far fewer solos than usual as he changes the tack of his songwriting.

“Not everything needs a guitar solo,” he tells SiriusXM. “That might be stupid coming from the son of Eddie Van Halen to say, but, for me, that is where I get my most joy from — crafting the song piece by piece.”

For evidence, one only needs to look at The End’s first two singles. The title track is full of tapping licks, while “The Spell” backs away from incendiary solos.

“I approach guitar playing more as a producer and more as a drummer than a guitar player,” Wolfgang said last year. “Rhythm is always the first thing for me, and melody is the second.”

Echoing his dad's sentiments, he says he's drawn to more purposeful soloing, rather than seeing the 16-bar spot as an opportunity to flex his muscles. He says a one-note solo "can be way more impressive than a solo that's 2,000 notes. It's not really the speed at which you play.”

Sammy Hagar has been speaking about his relationship with Eddie Van Halen once more, and now says that the late guitarist had turned his attention to the cello before he died.

His comments follow Hagar’s recent claims that EVH was “dried up” in the latter stages of his life and career, which attests to why the band only released one album in the 21st century.

Eddie Van Halen was born into a musical family. His father was a Dutch jazz pianist, clarinetist and saxophonist, and the guitar legend trod a similarly multi-instrument path, by playing piano, drums and cello. The final months of his life, it seems, were dedicated to developing his skills on the orchestra staple rather than the electric guitar.

“Last time I talked to Eddie before he passed, I said, ‘Man, what are you playing?’” Hagar tells the Talkin’ Rock With Meltdown podcast. “He said, ‘Oh, man, I’ve really been playing a lot of cello!’”

Hagar says he took the surprise news in good faith, and pushed for what would have been their first collaboration together since 1995’s Balance.

“I’m going, ‘Cello? Holy shit! Play me something, dude! I’m ready to write a song with you on cello!’”

Rock journalist and Guitar Player contributing writer Steve Rosen — who penned the book Tonechaser: Understanding Edward about his 26-year friendship with the guitarist — says Van Halen's journey with cello began in 1985.

“Edward had mentioned to me back on December 7th, 1984… how he was buying a cello and wanted to learn the instrument," Rosen writes in an excerpt of the book via Something Else! Reviews. "When he first told me that, I thought immediately of my friend Ron… who was not only an excellent bass player but a trained cellist, as well.”

Van Halen was 30 in 1985, and very much in the thralls of the rock and roll lifestyle. As Rosen noted, the guitarist arrived at his cello lesson with Ron having been “drinking heavily.”

“At one point, Edward attempted to play a few notes, but had been holding the bow incorrectly,” Rosen writes. “Ron reached over and slapped his hand the way an impatient music teacher may have done with an impetuous student, as in, ‘No, no, Edward, bad student!’

“The second he did it, I saw a look of terror cross his face because he realized he had just smacked the most famous right hand to ever hold a cello bow.”

No collaboration between Hagar and a cello-playing Van Halen materialized. Moreover, the mention of that call being the pair’s last conversation insinuates it took place close to his passing in October 2020.

Hagar does, however, claim that his new song “Encore, Thank You, Goodnight” was co-written with Eddie over a year after his death. The guitarist, he says, appeared to him in a dream, and he brought riffs with him.

Hagar’s group Best of All Bands — which includes Joe Satriani, Michael Anthony, and Kenny Aronoff — featured on the track, with Satriani eager to help finish a song the ghost of Eddie Van Halen had started.

The band wrapped its Las Vegas residency last month, and Hagar is seemingly eyeing another, with Wolfgang Van Halen in tow.

Calling out the Mammoth star — who, like his father is also a multi-instrumentalist — on radio station WRIF, he said: “Hey Wolf, let’s do a residency someday. Just one show of Van Halen songs! That would be awesome!”

Wolfgang, who says his stint as the bass player in his dad's band was tainted by a toxic portion of the fanbase, has distanced himself from playing Van Halen songs as he looks to forge a singular reputation and not one of ‘Eddie's son.’

“I could very easily shack up and do ‘Wolf does Van Halen’ and probably make a decent living from it,” he says.”[But] it’s very hollow and astoundingly creatively unfulfilling. I feel like it’s kind of selling out, and I could never do that; that’s not satisfying to me. I would rather bomb on my own than succeed with what my dad laid before me.”

Despite calling on Wolfgang to join him on stage, Hagar does recognize that he is his own man.

“He’s not trying to be his dad,” he tells WRIF, “and I love that. Let that boy boogie!”

He’s certainly boogieing, and keeping his father close in the process. He’s revealed that his new song, “The End” was tracked on his dad’s legendary Frankenstein Strat. But the likelihood of him playing Van Halen songs on that guitar, or any for that matter, in the future currently seems slim.

Eddie Van Halen's "Frankenstein" guitar became a symbol of his pioneering attitude toward electric guitar design. Always experimenting, Eddie made the guitar a work in progress in which he followed his quest for tone, reflecting his genius as a tinkerer, inventor and innovator.

So it’s exciting to see the guitar back in action, this time in the hands of his son, Wolfgang. The guitarist posted a video of himself playing the iconic guitar on X this past Monday, May 5.

The 20-second clip shows Wolfgang tracking a passage to “The End,” the latest song from his group, Mammoth WVH.

“Tracking the slap part of THE END,” he writes.

“Fun fact, I recorded the main tapping of the song, and the slap part with the Frankenstein! Makes me feel closer to Pop that such an important part of his history can live with mine every time I record.”

Fans were quick to chime in with support.

“How awesome to see that not only you are getting to make that connection, but we as fans get to continue to make a connection to EVH through you,” wrote one. “The new song is just awesome! Great job Wolfie!”

“Just got a chance to listen to the song today and it’s is absolutely awesome,” wrote another. “Such an awesome song, it’s a nice way keep to your own personal style while in some small ways giving nods to your pops. Wherever he is universe I gotta feeling he’s damn proud of you dude.”

“The End” is the first sample of what’s coming next from Mammoth as they prepare to drop their third album sometime later this year. The anthemic song features Wolfgang and his collaborator Michael “Elvis” Baskette and explodes with a tapping intro that builds to the hard-charging verse.

"I've had the tapping idea on the intro for 'The End' since before Mammoth,” Wolfgang explains. “I was able to fit it into this world. It's still over-the-top and shreddy, but it's also melodic and controlled.

“Overall, I was doing some different things on the record, and I knew this was going to be a big step. Once we finished 'The End', it felt really special to me."

Although it’s exciting to see Wolfgang play Eddie’s historic Superstrat, he’s made it clear that he intends to go his own way as a guitarist and not live in his dad’s shadow. To that end, he’s taken a decidedly different approach to guitar playing.

“I approach guitar playing more as a producer and more as a drummer than a guitar player,” he said in a recent interview. “Rhythm is always the first thing for me and melody is the second.

“It's more about songwriting when it comes to Mammoth,” he continues. “Not every song needs a solo.”

Though he’s had great success on his own terms, Wolfgang has admitted it saddens him that he can’t share it with his father.

“There’s so much that I can’t share with him,” he told Billy Corgan’s The Magnificent Others podcast this past March “He never got to see what happened with Mammoth. He never got to see me get married. He never got to see me have kids eventually. Those are tentpole moments that will always have a tinge of sadness no matter what.”

Mammoth will perform a brief run of May dates in anticipation of their autumn headline tour across the U.S. Dubbed “The End,” the tour launches October 31 and runs for five weeks. Ticket are available now at Mammoth.band.

"Empty." That's how Wolfgang Van Halen described his life after his father, Eddie Van Halen, died in 2020.

The Van Halen offspring played his part in Van Halen’s legacy when he replaced long-standing bassist Michael Anthony for their 2006 reunion with David Lee Roth. It was a period that he said couldn’t have happened without him, as he recently commented on the backlash his presence had caused among fractions of the fanbase.

Not wanting to have his career overshadowed by his dad’s music, Wolfgang began working on his own solo music with his band, Mammoth WVH, as early as 2015 . But he put the record on hold when Eddie’s health began to deteriorate.

“I spent 2015 to 2018 making the first record, but then when my dad got sick, I kind of put everything on hold,” he tells Billy Corgan’s The Magnificent Others podcast.

Eddie Van Halen had battled tongue cancer in the six years prior to his death, and was hospitalized in 2019.

“It wasn’t until he passed in 2020 that I was like, My life is completely empty, and I need something to give me purpose,” he continues. “That’s what I’m still doing to this day.”

During the pair’s conversation, Wolfgang talks openly about the grief he felt losing his dad, saying: “In the absence of my father, which is a heavy absence that I’m dealing with to this day, his pride in me was so large that, in its absence, there’s just this black hole sitting there.”

Mammoth WVH, a project in which he performs all the instruments and vocals. He has become a valuable outlet for himself and has produced two full-length albums so far, and has gigged extensively alongside his work with the EVH brand.

The multi-instrumentalist has repeatedly expressed his desire to be viewed and judged on his own merits as he tries to emerge from under his father's sizable shadow. However, he understands the scale of the challenge, telling Corgan, “I would rather make my own name. Unfortunately, when I have the name Van Halen, that’s a bit tough to do. I want to earn this. I don’t want to be given anything.”

That’s why, stylistically, Mammoth WVH sits far away from the brazen technicality of Van Halen and shares greater DNA with modern rock and progressive metal artists like Intervals’ Aaron Marshall, who he has called his favorite guitar player.

That’s not to say his music forsakes his father's influence. His solo on “Take a Bow,” for instance, oozes an unmistakable EVH flavor, but it’s done in a way that feels like a tip of the hat to his father, rather than a cashing in on the family name. It comes from the heart, not a craving for success.

But his dad’s influence will always be a huge part of him, and last year, he spoke about how one key lesson he received from his father on guitar solos has continued to resonate with him since.

“I approach guitar playing more as a producer and more as a drummer than a guitar player,” he explains. “Rhythm is always the first thing for me, and melody is the second.

“It's more about songwriting when it comes to Mammoth,” he continues. “Not every song needs a solo.”

However, while a musical distance between his father’s legacy and the one he’s trying to carve out in his own right is welcome, the void left by his father is far greater in other aspects of his life.

Just months after Mammoth II was released in 2023, Wolfgang married his girlfriend, Andraia Allsop, who walked down the aisle to a song Eddie Van Halen had written for his only child. He said it was “a nice way to include my dad,” but that was as much as he could do on such an important day.

“There’s so much that I can’t share with him,” he says to Corgan, candidly. “He never got to see what happened with Mammoth. He never got to see me get married. He never got to see me have kids eventually. Those are tentpole moments that will always have a tinge of sadness no matter what.”

Sensing his interviewee's sadness, Corgan smiles and replies, “I know he’d be proud. He’d be losing it,” and it’s hard to see how his father would have reacted in any other way.

Eddie Van Halen was intensely passionate about music, his guitars, and his family. Wolfgang even says that playing live with his son on bass was one of his “favorite things” to do, so to see him thriving as a songwriter would have filled him with an unfathomable joy.

Wolfgang Van Halen has hit back at online trolls who criticize his role in Van Halen’s David Lee Roth–era reunion and says their actions only tarnish the legacy they claim they want to protect.

In a new interview with Billy Corgan on The Magnificent Others podcast, Wolfgang says he's bewildered by backlash from Van Halen fans.

“[My dad] enjoyed playing with me, that was one of his favorite things,” he tells Corgan. “It was a big reason why the years of Van Halen where I was involved happened at all.”

Although it's been nearly 20 years since Wolfgang made his debut in the band, some fans apparently haven't lost their unhappiness over Van Halen's decision to carry on without long-time bass player Michael Anthony when they regrouped in 2006.

Although original lead singer David Lee Roth had launched a successful solo career with the help of some hot-shot shredders during his time away, he returned to Van Halen. However, Anthony was not invited. And when Wolfgang turned up as the group's new bassist, it raised eyebrows.

Wolfgang elaborated on that decision back in 2021, telling Spin his father “wasn’t going through a good time” when the group reunited, a reference to Eddie's fight with sobriety. While Eddie and Alex Van Halen felt Anthony had gone against them by joining forces with former VH singer Sammy Hagar, Wolfgang said Anthony was having a good time in his new role. “[Anthony] really wasn’t part of it anymore,” Wolfgang told Spin. “I completely understand that he wouldn’t want to be around my dad when he was like that.”

Wolfgang also elaborated with Corgan on his decision not to ride his father's coattails. Since 2015, he's forged a career of his own with his band Mammoth WVH., preferring to do his own thing and not cash in on his family name.

He recalls performing a pair of Van Halen songs at the 2022 tribute to Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins as an opportunity to demonstrate his decision.

“I think when I did the Taylor Hawkins tribute where I played those two Van Halen songs for Taylor and my dad," he tells Corgan, "it was a big moment for me. Because it was, one, proving that I could do it, and two, showing that I choose not to [make a career of it].

“My dad actually had a quote when they ended up doing a lot of cover songs on Diver Down,” Wolfgang, adds, referring the 1982 Van Halen album Diver Down, which was heavy on cover songs. "There was a lot specifically on that album, and he said, ‘I’d rather bomb with my own material that succeed with someone else’s,’ and I feel very much that way.

“I could very easily shack up and do ‘Wolf does Van Halen’ and probably make a decent living from it. It’s very hollow and astoundingly creatively unfulfilling. I feel like it’s kind of selling out, and I could never do that; that’s not satisfying to me. I would rather bomb on my own than succeed with what my dad laid before me.

“It’s a funny thing,” he wraps up, “when you see the people who are the strongest Van Halen fans outwardly acting in a way that my dad would be disgusted with. And they don’t see that.”

Last year, Wolfgang recalled the key thing his father taught him about guitar solos that has empowered his career since.

Meanwhile, Michael Anthony has said that Wolfgang is sitting on an archive of unreleased Van Halen demos, who seemingly has the final say on whether or not they’ll see the light of day.

Ozzy Osbourne recently joined an elite cast of musicians — including Eric Clapton, John Lennon and Jimmy Page — who have been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame multiple times.

His induction ceremony was the kind of glamorous and gothic affair one would expect, but among the frivolities was a groundbreaking moment when Wolfgang Van Halen stepped up to play the role of Randy Rhoads on "Crazy Train."

When Rhoads shot onto the national scene in the early 1980s as Ozzy’s guitar star, rock fans keenly debated whether Randy or Eddie Van Halen was the better guitarist. Both players helped fan the flames. For Randy's part, he's known to have said only one positive thing about his shredding adversary.

With Wolfgang performing Rhoads' licks on "Crazy Train," the part rivalry was extinguished once and for all.

As Wolfgang explained, the gig was simply too good to turn down.

“I got the request from Ozzy, so you don’t say no,” he tells the Talking Rock with Meltdown podcast. “You’re like, ‘I’ll do what I can, sir.’ We had two rehearsals in Los Angeles before we came out and then a rehearsal the day before in Cleveland, so it was nice. The band got to gel, so it wasn’t just thrown together.”

The group included Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith, Metallica bass player Robert Trujillo, and Tool singer James Maynard Keneean. Zakk Wylde also performed later that night.

Wolfgang says producer Andrew Watt, who helmed Ozzy’s last two records — Ordinary Man and Patient No.9 — was the brains behind the operation.

“He was kind of the one setting everything up,” Wolfgang said. “It was a crazy supergroup of people, I felt so out of place. It was nice to have Zakk there so I could be like, ‘Hey, am I doing this right?’ He’s like, ‘Yeah, you’re doing fine.’

“I was certainly incredibly nervous, but everybody made it really easy, and it was really comfortable,” he adds. “And it was really cool to be able to hang out with Maynard. I’ve been a huge Tool fan my whole life, and he’s one of my favorite singers. I kind of had to put away the fan shirt and just kind of be like, ‘Yes sir, hey, how’s it going?’”

Though Wolfgang is — understandably — trying to forge a career away from his father’s shadow, he has spoken about the key lesson his dad taught him about soloing. He believes it’s an aspect of Eddie’s playing that too many players look past.

Meanwhile, former Van Halen Michael Anthony has said it's up to Wolfgang if anything happens to the vast archive of demos that Van Halen created during their time together.

And in related news, MXR has opened up Rhoads’ iconic “chip pan” pedalboard for the creation of the MXR Randy Rhoads Distortion+ pedal, and luthier Jim DeCola recently explained how he modded Randy Rhoads’ polka-dot V backstage just minutes before he played the guitar.

When you’re the son of Eddie Van Halen, try as you might, you’re always going to fall under his shadow at times. 

It’s a burden that Wolfgang Van Halen has learned to live with, and in a recent interview with MusicRadar, he detailed how he’s molded his approach to his guitar playing to help veer away from direct associations with his old man. 

“I approach guitar playing more as a producer and more as a drummer than a guitar player,” he explains. “Rhythm is always the first thing for me and melody is the second. 

“It's more about songwriting when it comes to Mammoth,” he continues. “Not every song needs a solo.” 

When a guitar solo does feel warranted, his mindset is a far cry from his dad’s dazzling acrobatics. He cites a very different influence instead, one that harmonizes with something his father taught him that he still holds dear today. 

“You can play a solo that's one note that can be way more impressive than a solo that's 2000 notes,” he believes. “It's not really the speed at which you play.

“A really core thing for me that my dad always instilled is that a solo should be melodically memorable. I think a good example – and I can never shut up about how much I love this guitar player – is Aaron Marshall from Intervals. 

“We toured with them lately and he's such a great example of what my dad and I love about solos, where he's very melodic,” he continues. “He's basically a singer as a guitar player. But he has those moments where he does these impressive, awesome shreddy runs. You can have those fun little moments.

“Everybody needs to listen to intervals,” he enthuses. “Their music is very special and important to me. Incredibly influential. Check out 5-HTP from [Circadian], it's one of my favorite songs ever.” 

Marshall, bestowed with a signature Schecter in 2022, said in a Guitar World interview that same year that he likes “leaving a little extra gas in the tank,” with his lead playing, believing it “is much more musical and interesting overall.

“There is certainly a time and place to come in guns blazing if that is the desired vibe, but the concept of dynamic and contrast is crucial to music in general.” 

Mammoth WVH – the Grammy-nominated band founded and fronted by Eddie Van Halen’s son, Wolfgang Van Halen – have announced their aptly titled sophomore album, Mammoth II, will be released on August 4 via BMG.

“The Mammoth team and I are so excited to now be a part of the BMG family,” said Van Halen. “The entire team have welcomed us with open arms and have been nothing short of wonderful.”

The chart-topping rocker's latest LP follows up Mammoth WVH’s eponymously titled debut released in 2021.

Produced by friend and collaborator Michael “Elvis” Baskette (Slash, Tremonti, Alter Bridge), Mammoth II was recorded at the legendary 5150 Studios in Studio City, Los Angeles.

As per his first album, Mammoth II was entirely written and performed by Wolfgang Van Halen, although the multi-instrumentalist songsmith says he challenged himself to expand his sound.

“I knew that I wanted the new album to contain elements of what people heard on the debut,” he explains, “but also giving me a chance to branch out a bit.”

Speaking of the album’s lead single, “Another Celebration at the End of the World,” Van Halen goes on to say that it is, “definitely a song that showcases what people can expect from the new album. It is a high-energy rocker with some fun guitar moments on it.

“I also pushed myself vocally and it is a song I can’t wait to get out and play live. I can see it being a fixture in our live set moving forward.”

Speaking of which… Mammoth WVH have announced this year’s tour dates. They are…

• Mar 23 – Seattle, WA – Paramount Theatre *
• Mar 25 – Airway Heights, WA - Northern Quest Resort & Casino *
• Mar 26 – Airway Heights, WA - Northern Quest Resort & Casino *
• Mar 28 – Anaheim, CA – House Of Blues *
• Mar 29 – Tempe, AZ – Marquee Theatre *
• Mar 31 – Reno, NV – Silver Legacy Resort Casino *
• Apr 1 – Highland, CA – Yaamava Theater *
• Apr 27 – Amsterdam, NL – Johan Cruijff ArenA #
• May 19 – Paris, FR – Stade de France #
• May 26 – Hamburg, DE – Volksparkstadion #
• May 29 – Berlin, DE – Hole44
• May 30 – Frankfurt, DE – Das Bett
• Jun 1 – Köln, DE – Gebäude 9
• Jun 3 – Tilburg, NL – Poppodium 013 *
• Jun 6 – Edinburgh, UK – O2 Academy Edinburgh *
• Jun 8 – Castle Donington, Derby, UK – Download Festival
• Jun 10 – Sölvesborg, SE – Sweden Rock Festival
• Jun 13 – Stockholm, SE – Gröna Lund *
• Jun 15 – Dessel, BE – Graspop Metal Meeting
• Jun 16 – Göteborg, SE – Ullevi #
• Jun 17 – Copenhagen, DK – Copenhell Festival 2023
• Jun 20 – Ludwigsburg, DE – Mhp Arena *
• Jun 21 – Graz, AT - Kasematten – Schlossbergbühne
• Jun 23 - Naz-sciaves - Natz-schabs, ITA – Aspen Flair 2023
• Jun 24 – Grenchen, CH – Summerside Festival
• Jun 26 – Villeurbanne, FR – Transbordeur *
• Jun 28 – Lisboa, PT – Evil Live Festival
• Jun 29 - Viveiro, ES – Resurrection Fest 2023
• Jul 1 – London, UK – Wembley Stadium ^
• Jul 4 – Dublin, IE – Marlay Park ^
• Jul 6 – Glasgow, UK – Glasgow Green ^
• Aug 4 – East Rutherford, NJ – MetLife Stadium #
• Aug 11 – Montreal, CA – Olympic Stadium #
• Aug 16 – Springfield, IL – Illinois State Fair 2023 *
• Aug 18 – Arlington, TX – AT&T Stadium #
• Aug 25 – Inglewood, CA – SoFi Stadium #
• Sep 1 – Glendale, AZ – State Farm Stadium #
• Sep 3 – Pryor, Ok – Rocklahoma
• Nov 3 – St. Louis, MO – The Dome at America’s Center #
• Nov 10 – Detroit, MI – Ford Field #

* Supporting Alter Bridge
# Supporting Metallica
^ Supporting Def Leppard/Motley Crüe

Further dates supporting Metallica next year have also been confirmed, as follows…

• May 24 – München, DE – Olympiastadion München
• Jun 7 – Felsinki, FI – Helsinki Olympic Stadium
• Jun 14 – Copenhagen, DK – Telia Parken
• Jul 5 – Warszawa, PL – PGE Narodowy
• Jul 12 – Madrid, ES – Cívitas Metropolitano
• Aug 2 – Foxborough, MA – Gillette Stadium
• Aug 9 – Chicago, IL – Soldier Field
• Aug 16 – Minneapolis, MN – US Bank Stadium
• Aug 23 – Edmonton, CA- Commonwealth Stadium
• Aug 30 – Seattle, WA – Lumen Field Event Center
• Sep 20 – Mexico – Foro Sol
• Sep 27 – Mexico – Foro Sol

Pre-order Mammoth WVH’s Mammoth II here.

Wolfgang Van Halen, son of the late guitar hero Eddie Van Halen, hasn't been averse to dipping into his dad's extensive electric guitar collection when recording songs for his solo project, Mammoth WVH.

For two tracks on Mammoth WVH's 2021 self-titled debut, he used perhaps the most famous of all of his father's guitars, Frankenstein. Now, Wolfgang has revealed that he's using one of his father's other guitars for the project's second LP.

The – let's call it bruised and battered, shall we? – guitar in question is a Gibson SG that Eddie used on Van Halen's fourth album.

"Pop played this SG on the slide part in 'Dirty Movies' on Fair Warning," Wolfgang explained on Instagram. "He loved the tone, but the lower horn of the guitar kept getting in the way, so he sawed it off.

…and you’ll hear it on the next Mammoth album."

Though not perhaps one of Eddie's most prized guitars, the SG nonetheless stands out as one of the legend's strangest instruments. In their book, Eruption: Conversations with Eddie Van Halen, Brad Tolinski and Chris Gill explore the SG's history, via Eddie Van Halen's own words. 

“I took this guitar to Sunset Sound when we were recording 'Dirty Movies' for Fair Warning,” Eddie says in the book (via Reverb). “I used it to play the slide part. I kept recording takes over and over, and finally I asked Donn Landee to get me a hacksaw. 

“He asked me what I was going to do, and I told him not to worry about it. I hacked off the horn on the treble side because I couldn’t hit the high notes with the slide. Everybody looked at me like I fell out of my tree, but it was by necessity.

"People trip when I do things like that right in front of them," he continues in the book. "I’ve destroyed a lot of vintage guitars over the years. Some people might think, ‘How could you desecrate the Mona Lisa?’ But I don’t really care what something looks like or if it’s 100 percent stock. I tear things apart to try and make them work and do what I need them to do. I’m more concerned with a guitar’s functionality, sound, and playability."

Eddie Van Halen's "Eruption," one of the most groundbreaking electric guitar instrumentals of all time, was recorded 45 years ago this summer. 

Last Friday (September 9), Eddie's son, Wolfgang, took to Instagram to celebrate the 45th anniversary of its recording with the release of a 2015 video of him playing the incendiary solo on his father's original Frankenstein guitar. You can see the clip below.

As he explains in the video's caption, Wolfgang used Frankenstein on two of the tracks on the 2021 self-titled debut album from his Mammoth WVH project.

"'Eruption' was recorded 45 years ago today," Wolfgang wrote on Instagram. "In honor of that, here’s a video of me playing part of it on the guitar it was recorded on in 2015.

"I had used the Frankenstein on a couple tracks on the first Mammoth WVH album, and we were just having some fun before we started. I definitely plan on bringing it out again for the second album.

"On Van Halen 1," he continued, "the guitar was tuned a half step down, but the song I was about to record was a full step down. Hence 'Eruption' being a half step down here.

"You can hear my hesitation before playing, and I almost decided to try and play it up one fret, but I ended up just playing in its normal position. I may have attempted to do that after this video at some point though.

"Love and miss you, Pop," the note concludes.

Despite its incalculable impact on the world of guitar (it was voted by Guitar World readers as the second greatest guitar solo of all time in a 2021 poll), "Eruption" wasn't even supposed to be on Van Halen's self-titled 1978 debut album, originally.

"My guitar solo, 'Eruption,' wasn't planned for the record," Eddie told Guitar Player in a 1978 interview. "Al [Alex Van Halen, the band's drummer and Eddie's brother] and I were picking around rehearsing for a show, and I was warming up with this solo. Ted [Templeman, Van Halen's producer] came in and said, "It's great, put it on the record."

The Taylor Hawkins Tribute Concert at Wembley Stadium on Saturday, September 3, brought together some of the biggest names in rock and popular music to celebrate the life of the late Foo Fighters drummer. 

But it still made time to salute Eddie Van Halen, when his son, Wolfgang, joined Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl, Justin Hawkins of the Darkness, and drum session ace Josh Freese (GNR, NIN etc) onstage for a ripping rendition of Van Halen’s “On Fire” and “Hot for Teacher.”

The packed crowd at a sold out Wembley Stadium, London, might just have borne witness to the electric guitar moment of 2022 – and perhaps a taste of what might have been had an Eddie Van Halen tribute tour ever gotten off the ground. 

That story, over many months, grew arms and legs as more were linked to the project. Joe Satriani had been in talks. This we know. Jason Newsted was linked to it. Who would sing? Which of today’s elite guitar players would step in? Ultimately it did not matter: the Eddie tribute project got mothballed.

Covering Eddie’s material would intimidate anyone – Satriani said as much – but as Wolfgang has proved on a number of occasions, and at Wembley on Saturday, he has have the chops to carry it off. 

Of course, Van Halen tracks will always be a part of a Mammoth WVH set – they are in the very DNA of the band – but there was something extra-curricular and special about this occasion at Wembley, with Wolfgang taking center stage to deliver his father’s inimitable brand of fretboard pyro.

“It should come as no surprise that Taylor Hawkins was a huge fucking Van Halen fan,” said Grohl, addressing the crowd. “Do you know this!? You should know this! Didn’t you see those tights he was wearing every night? Remember those tights, those skinny Van Halen pants? Well, we’re lucky enough tonight to have with us a real Van Halen.”

Enter, Wolfgang, to light up a pair of EVH semi-hollow SA-126 prototypes, first a flame-maple topped model, on which he performed “On Fire” from Van Halen’s eponymous 1978 debut, then a relic’d model for “Hot for Teacher”, the ultimate Saturday night anthem.

Clearly apple did not fall far from the tree. Once “On Fire” was dispatched, Freese opened “Hot for Teacher” with AVH’s inimitable drum tag, WVH turned EVH with a pick slide and a blistering run through the tapped arpeggios, and into a tight, fierce and impassioned rendition of one the Van Halen catalog's most dynamic tracks.

It was thrilling hard-rock vignette that saw Justin Hawkins recast as Diamond Dave MkII – sporting similarly loud stage wear, the front split to the navel – and a rare stint on bass for Dave Grohl. Maybe, right there, that was our Van Halen Tribute lineup after all. 

The Taylor Hawkins Tribute Concert is available to stream on demand via Paramount+, and saw the Foo Fighters perform live for the first time since their drummer’s death on March 25. 

All-star collaborations were the order of the day. The Pretenders were augmented by Grohl. Brian Johnson of AC/DC jammed “Back in Black” and Let There Be Rock” with a Foo Fighters lineup that included Metallica’s Lars Ulrich on drums. 

Liam Gallagher performed a couple of Oasis covers, while Brian May and Roger Taylor played a handful of Queen standards with the Foo Fighters. 

Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee rattled through a couple of Rush classics with Grohl on drums before Sir Paul McCartney set up the Foos’ final three songs with a performance of the Beatles’ “Oh! Darling” and “Helter Skelter.” It was that sort of day.

This Friday, June 11, Wolfgang Van Halen will finally release the long-anticipated, self-titled debut album from his Mammoth WVH project. 

To promote it, he recently sat down with Total Guitar, where he discussed the album, gear, his connection with his late father – Eddie Van Halen – and much more. Along the way, he also relayed an amusing anecdote about how his father's attitude towards gear changed over time, much to the shock of some famous admirers. 

Discussing which famous pieces of his father's gear he used for Mammoth WVH, Wolfgang was asked if he knew the whereabouts of the legendary 100 watt Marshall 1959 model his father used on the early Van Halen albums, to which he said: “Yeah. I’m not gonna tell people where it is, but it’s in our hands and it’s being kept safe.“

When asked whether or not it had been damaged at some point, Wolfgang said:

“I’m sure it was at some point. Dad definitely fixed it up over the years, but he kind of just evolved past the sound." 

He then added, "When were on the 2012 tour, [Pearl Jam’s] Mike McCready and Eddie Vedder came backstage. Mike was talking to Dad. He said, 'Oh man, the first Van Halen album sounded so good.' My dad growls, 'It sounded like shit!' Mike was just like, 'Oh, okay. Well... I liked it.'“

When Total Guitar pointed out that there were entire forums dedicated to reproducing the sound of Van Halen's self-titled debut, Wolfgang said ”I think Dad would rather have people not try and sound like him but sound like themselves. You know, tastes change over time. Obviously he was super-happy with all the 5150s as he kept building on them.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Wolfgang discussed using the original Frankenstein guitar for two of the album's tracks, "Mammoth" and "Feel,“ saying “You feel the history. It’s kind of terrifying holding it, just because arguably it is the most famous guitar in musical history. It’s definitely quite the thing to hold it."

For the full interview with Wolfgang Van Halen, pick up a copy of Total Guitar from Magazines Direct.

Like all bands, Guns N' Roses were forced to cancel their 2020 summer U.S. tour dates due to COVID-19. Now though, the band has rescheduled those shows, and added 14 more for good measure. 

Notably, the American tour – which will kick off late next month and run through October – will feature Wolfgang Van Halen's Mammoth WVH making their touring debut in the supporting slot.

Currently preparing for the release of their self-titled debut album on June 11, Mammoth WVH have to date only made a couple of TV appearances. The group's live lineup features Van Halen on vocals and guitar, Frank Sidoris and Jon Jourdan on guitar, Ronnie Ficarro on bass, and Garrett Whitlock on drums.

Tickets for the rescheduled tour go on sale this Friday, June 4. You can check out the band's full itinerary below.

For tickets and more info, head on over to gunsnroses.com.

• Sat Jul 31 – Hershey, PA – Hersheypark Stadium* 
• Tue Aug 03 – Boston, MA – Fenway Park 
• Thu Aug 05 – East Rutherford, NJ – MetLife Stadium 
• Sun Aug 08 – Detroit, MI – Comerica Park 
• Wed Aug 11 – Fargo, ND – FargoDome 
• Fri Aug 13 – Missoula, MT – Washington-Grizzly Stadium 
• Mon Aug 16 – Commerce City, CO – Dick's Sporting Goods Park
• Thu Aug 19 – Los Angeles, CA – Banc of California Stadium
• Sun Aug 22 – Portland, OR – Moda Center*
• Wed Aug 25 – San Jose, CA – SAP Center at San Jose*
• Fri Aug 27 – Las Vegas, NV – Venue to be announced*
• Mon Aug 30 – Phoenix, AZ – Phoenix Suns Arena*
• Wed Sep 01 – Dallas, TX – American Airlines Center*
• Sat Sep 04 – Napa, CA – BottleRock Napa Valley^
• Wed Sep 08 – Indianapolis, IN – Lucas Oil Stadium
• Sat Sep 11 – Atlantic City, NJ – Hard Rock Live at Etess Arena*
• Sun Sep 12 – Atlantic City, NJ – Hard Rock Live at Etess Arena*
• Thu Sep 16 – Chicago, IL – Wrigley Field
• Sat Sep 18 – Milwaukee, WI – American Family Insurance Amphitheater | Summerfest
• Tue Sep 21 – St. Paul, MN – Xcel Energy Center*
• Thu Sep 23 – Columbus, OH – Schottenstein Center*
• Sun Sep 26 – Baltimore, MD – Royal Farms Arena*
• Wed Sep 29 – Raleigh, NC – PNC Arena*
• Sat Oct 02 – Hollywood, FL – Hard Rock Live Arena*
• Sun Oct 03 – Hollywood, FL – Hard Rock Live Arena*

* = New tour dates
^ = Festival date/Mammoth WVH not performing

For his debut solo album, Mammoth WVH, Wolfgang Van Halen opted to handle all instruments and vocals himself, with no guest appearances from his late father, Eddie, nor any of his other Van Halen bandmates.

However – as he revealed in a new interview with Total Guitar – Wolfgang did use some of his father's guitar gear on the album, including his most famous guitar of all, the original Frankenstein.

When asked by the magazine if he used any of his father's gear for the album, Wolfgang replied “Yeah, a handful of it. I played the original Frankenstein on the solo on 'Mammoth' and on 'Feel.'

“You feel the history. It’s kind of terrifying holding it, just because arguably it is the most famous guitar in musical history. It’s definitely quite the thing to hold it."

Eddie himself, however, was decidedly less moved when the original Frankenstein was brought out of its safe for the occasion.

“When we were pulling it out of its safe, Dad picked it up and he was just noodling with it for a second,” Wolfgang said.

“He’s like ‘Yeah, feels about the same’ and he tossed it onto the couch. Everyone just gasped when he did that. To Dad, it’s just a little piece of junk that he built himself, but to us it’s the most famous thing in the world.”

You can hear Frankenstein in action again on "Mammoth" above and "Feel" below.

Elsewhere on the album, Wolfgang primarily used a Gibson ES-335 and an EVH Wolfgang Custom. You can watch him rock the ES-335 in Mammoth WVH's "Don't Back Down" video below.

Amp-wise, however, Wolfgang made a concerted effort to chart a different tonal course from his father.

“We did use a bunch of 5150s mostly, but there were also Marshalls – a red early-’70s 100 watt Superlead, and a ’72 Superlead metal-panel 1959 model," he said. "All the Marshall heads were modified with extra gain stages. We used a lot of cabinet variations, with Celestion G12H-30s, G12M-25s, and G12-EVHs just to contrast the sound.”

For the full interview, pick up a copy of Total Guitar from Magazines Direct.

Wolfgang Van Halen has already premiered four songs from the self-titled debut album of his solo project, Mammoth WVH.

First, there's was the heartfelt Eddie Van Halen tribute, "Distance," followed by "You're to Blame," and subsequently "Don’t Back Down" and "Think It Over."

Now, Wolfgang has released a fifth song from Mammoth WVH, "Feel." You can give it a spin below.

Mammoth WVH features Wolfgang on vocals and every instrument, though for live performances he's joined by guitarists Frank Sidoris and Jon Jourdan, bassist Ronnie Ficarro, and drummer Garrett Whitlock.

Set for a June 11 release via EX1 Records/Explorer1 Music Group, Mammoth WVH is available for pre-order now in a number of formats: including digital, autographed CD, exclusive color vinyl, and more. You can check out its cover art and track list below.

To preorder the album, step right this way.

Mammoth WVH – Mammoth WVH:

1. Mr. Ed
2. Horribly Right
3. Epiphany
4. Don't Back Down
5. Resolve
6. You'll Be the One
7. Mammoth
8. Circles
9. The Big Picture
10. Think It Over
11. You're to Blame
12. Feel
13. Stone
14. Distance

Mammoth WVH – Wolfgang Van Halen's solo band – have released two new singles, "Don’t Back Down" and "Think It Over."

You can check out the entertaining music video for the former – which features four Wolfgang Van Halens rocking out and two Wolfgangs producing the track – above, and the audio for the latter below. 

Taken from the band's self-titled debut album, the songs – like all tracks on the album – feature Wolfgang on every instrument, and follow the release of "You're to Blame" and the emotional Eddie Van Halen tribute, "Distance."

Though Van Halen alone appears on Mammoth WVH, he is joined – for live Mammoth WVH performances – by guitarists Frank Sidoris and Jon Jourdan, bassist Ronnie Ficarro, and drummer Garrett Whitlock.

Set for a June 11 release via EX1 Records/Explorer1 Music Group, Mammoth WVH is available for pre-order now in a number of formats: including digital, autographed CD, exclusive color vinyl, and more. You can check out its cover art and track list below.

To preorder the album, step right this way.

Mammoth WVH – Mammoth WVH:

1. Mr. Ed
2. Horribly Right
3. Epiphany
4. Don't Back Down
5. Resolve
6. You'll Be the One
7. Mammoth
8. Circles
9. The Big Picture
10. Think It Over
11. You're to Blame
12. Feel
13. Stone
14. Distance

Wolfgang Van Halen has revealed that he turned down a request by The Recording Academy to perform "Eruption" – as a tribute to his late father, Eddie – at the 2021 Grammy Awards. 

The ceremony – which was broadcast this past Sunday, March 14 – has been criticized for insufficiently highlighting and paying tribute to Eddie Van Halen. 

While a 20-second archival clip of Eddie playing a live "Eruption" solo – while a spotlight shone on his Frankenstrat – was shown on the broadcast, fans pointed out that John Prine, Little Richard, and Kenny Rogers were each given individual tribute performances.   

In a Twitter post, Wolfgang said he turned down The Recording Academy's request because, in his words, “I don't think anyone could have lived up to what my father did for music but himself.”

“It was my understanding that there would be an 'In Memoriam' section where bits of songs were performed for legendary artists that had passed," Wolfgang continued. "I didn't realize that they would only show Pop for 15 seconds in the middle of four full performances for others we had lost.

“What hurt the most was that he wasn't even mentioned when they talked about artists we lost in the beginning of the show.

“I know rock isn't the most popular genre right now, (and the Academy does seem a bit out of touch), but I think it's impossible to ignore the legacy my father left on the instrument, the world of rock, and music in general. There will never be another innovator like him.

“I'm not looking to start some kind of hate parade here, I just wanted to explain my side,” he continued. “I know Pop would probably just laugh it off and say, 'Ehh who gives a shit?' He was only about the music anyway. The rest didn't matter.

“I'd love to get the opportunity to speak with The Recording Academy not only about the legacy of my father, but the legacy of the Rock genre moving forward.”

The award for Best Rock Album at this year's ceremony went to The Strokes, for The New Abnormal, while Best Rock Song went to Brittany Howard, for "Stay High."

Just yesterday, Wolfgang Van Halen's solo band, Mammoth WVH, released a new single – "You're to Blame" – and announced the details of their self-titled debut album.

Later in the evening, the band – featuring Van Halen on vocals and guitar, Frank Sidoris and Jon Jourdan on guitar, Ronnie Ficarro on bass, and Garrett Whitlock on the drums – made their live debut on Jimmy Kimmel Live with an emotional performance of "Distance," Wolfgang's tribute to his late father, Eddie Van Halen.

You can check out the band's performance above.

Featuring Wolfgang Van Halen handling all vocal and instrumental duties, Mammoth WVH is set for a June 11 release via EX1 Records/Explorer1 Music Group.

Mammoth WVH is available for pre-order now in a number of formats: including autographed CD, exclusive color vinyl, digital, and more.

To preorder the album, step right this way.

Back in November, Wolfgang Van Halen – son of Eddie and former Van Halen bassist – announced the formation of his solo band, Mammoth WVH, and released the group's first single, "Distance."

A moving, propulsive rocker dedicated to his late father, the song was an immediate success, rising as high as No. 9 on Billboard's Rock charts.

Now, the band has finally announced the details of their long-awaited debut album. Featuring Wolfgang Van Halen handling all vocal and instrumental duties, the self-titled LP is set for a June 11 release via EX1 Records/Explorer1 Music Group.

You can check out its second single, "You're to Blame," below.

Though Van Halen alone appears on Mammoth WVH, he'll be joined – for live Mammoth WVH performances – by guitarists Frank Sidoris and Jon Jourdan, bassist Ronnie Ficarro, and drummer Garrett Whitlock.

Mammoth WVH is available for pre-order now in a number of formats: including digital, autographed CD, exclusive color vinyl, and more.

To preorder the album, step right this way.

Last week, Wolfgang Van Halen appeared on Sirius XM's The Howard Stern Show to promote "Distance," his first single under the Mammoth WVH banner.

During the interview – his first since the death of his father, Eddie Van Halen, last month – the Van Halen bassist also discussed Van Halen reunions that never came to pass, his father's illness, and his relationship with him. Along the way, Wolfgang also revealed the first guitar Eddie ever gifted to him, a Kramer 1984.

The back-up guitar to the iconic 5150 Eddie used in the "Panama" music video, it was given to Wolfgang as a Christmas gift accompanied by a Playboy card, a cheeky way for Eddie to say, “Play, boy!" 

Wolfgang also told Stern what it was like to have one of the greatest guitarists of all time as a teacher. As it turns out, Eddie's gifts for fretboard fireworks didn't exactly extend to instruction.

“I’d ask him how to play something and then he just proceeds to be Eddie Van Halen,” Wolfgang told Stern, laughing. “That’s a very tough bar to reach as a beginner, so it’s like, ‘Oh, OK…’”

"Distance," which is available now, is an open letter to Eddie, and features Wolfgang on vocals and on every instrument. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of the song will go to Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation. Eddie's favorite charity, it helps provide musical instruments to underfunded schools.

To promote the release of "Distance," the first single from his solo band Mammoth WVH, Wolfgang Van Halen appeared yesterday on SiriusXM’s The Howard Stern Show.

Notably, it was the Van Halen bassist's first interview since the death of his father, Eddie Van Halen, last month.

The wide-ranging discussion covered a range of topics, including a long-rumored reunion stadium tour featuring Van Halen's original lineup. Wolfgang confirmed the validity of the rumors, saying, in fact, that there had been plans for a "kitchen sink" reunion tour featuring not only Anthony and Roth, but former Van Halen frontmen Sammy Hagar and Gary Cherone as well.

“The reunion rumors were very real,” Wolfgang told Stern.

“Since 2015, I had been talking with Dad and was introducing the idea, because he knew I was doing my music, I would be like, ‘Hey Dad, you know what would be cool? Hear me out – what if I opened for you guys, and we had Mike come back?

“Initially, my Dad was like, ‘Well, you gotta be up there, too.’ And eventually it was like, ‘OK, well, maybe I can come up and we can play one or two songs from A Different Kind of Truth – we can figure it out.’

“But as time went on, he warmed up to the idea – I got him excited about it. And at a certain point, it turned into what we joked was the ‘kitchen-sink’ tour. ’Cos after he was OK with that arrangement, it was like, ‘Fuck, let’s get Dave and Hagar, and even Cherone. Let’s just do a giant, fuckin’ awesome thing.’”

Though rumors of the tour began to spread rapidly, all plans were called off when Eddie was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer at the end of 2017. Though the legendary guitarist was initially given just six months to live, treatment in Germany prolonged that time.

“Whatever the fuck they do over there, it’s amazing because I got three more years with him,” Wolfgang said. 

In 2019, Eddie was involved in a motorcycle accident, after which he was diagnosed with a brain tumor. From there, Wolfgang said, “shit kept stacking up and stacking up.”

"Distance," which is available now, is an open letter to Eddie, and features Wolfgang on vocals and on every instrument. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of the song will go to Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation. Eddie's favorite charity, it helps provide musical instruments to underfunded schools.

The highly-anticipated debut solo LP from Van Halen bassist Wolfgang Van Halen has been years in the making, and now we've finally been given our first taste of it.

Above, you can watch the music video for "Distance," a beautiful ballad described as an open letter to Wolfgang's late father, Eddie Van Halen. Credited to Mammoth WVH, it features Wolfgang on vocals and on every instrument.

“As my pop continued to struggle with various health issues, I was imagining what my life would be like without him and how terribly I’d miss him," Wolfgang said of the song. "While the song is incredibly personal, I think anyone can relate to the idea of having a profound loss in their life. 

"I never intended ‘Distance’ to be the very first piece of music people would hear from me, but I also thought my father would be here to celebrate its release. This is for him. I love and miss you, Pop.”

The song's tear-jerking video features home-camera footage of Wolfgang and Eddie together through the years – from Wolfgang's infancy to his time on tour with Van Halen – and ends with a loving voicemail from Eddie.

A portion of the proceeds from the sale of "Distance" will go to Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation. Eddie's favorite charity, it helps provide musical instruments to underfunded schools.

Mammoth WVH’s as-yet-untitled debut album will be released via Explorer1 Music Group/EX1 Records next year.

In the wake of Eddie Van Halen's tragic passing on October 6, Van Halen’s manager, Irving Azoff, has revealed plans for the future of EVH Gear, the popular guitar and amp brand Van Halen founded in 2007.

“Wolf[gang Van Halen, Eddie’s son] and Matt Bruck [Eddie Van Halen's longtime tech] will run it, and that’s going to continue,” Azoff said in an interview with Pollstar.

Azoff also commented on the possibility of the unearthing of previously unreleased recordings, saying “Wolf and Alex [Van Halen] will go up to 5150, the studio in Ed’s house, but there’s been a lot of recording over the years. I can’t predict that for sure there will be anything new, but for sure they’re going to look at it.”

Additionally, Azoff confirmed that a much-rumored 2019 Van Halen stadium tour – featuring the band's original lineup of the Van Halen brothers, David Lee Roth and bassist Michael Anthony – was indeed being planned before being called off due to the deterioration of Eddie Van Halen's health.

“We had lots of stops and starts, but there was every intention of doing a summer stadium tour (in 2019), and as the cancer moved around, [Van Halen] was physically unable to do it,” he said. “There is no doubt in my mind that it would have been massive.”