Wolfgang Van Halen to those who accuse him of ‘hating’ Van Halen: “All I’ve ever said is I don’t want to play Van Halen music at Mammoth shows”
The musician also elaborated on the reason why there hasn’t been a tribute concert for Eddie Van Halen as of yet.
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Wolfgang Van Halen has spoken out about his struggle with online hate and addressed claims that he isn’t a fan of Van Halen. In the discussion, the musician also admits why he refuses to cover his father’s songs when playing with his own band and addresses rumours about an upcoming tribute concert for Eddie Van Halen.
During an interview with Rolling Stone yesterday (July 17), Eddie Van Halen’s son Wolfgang has spoken openly about the online hate he receives– admitting that he would initially joke about coming up with ways to “piss people off” when he fell victim to negative comments.
“I just really wish I kind of had [my dad] involved in some way that would piss people off,” he laughs. “We would joke about it and be like, ‘You know, if Dad were to ever be on anything, it’d be, like, ‘Don’t play guitar. Like, I want you to play piano, or I want you to play cello, or I’d want you to hit a triangle in a song, or just something.’”
He goes on to describe how he has been personally affected by negative comments for years and explains that this is part of the reason why he is adamant about not playing Van Halen covers when touring with his own band Mammoth WVH.
“People are like, ‘Oh, don’t mention Van Halen. He hates Van Halen!’ It’s like, ‘It’s my fucking name! Why would I hate it? It’s my dad! I love my dad! I was in the fucking band!’ I don’t hate it at all.”
He continues, “All I’ve ever said is I don’t want to play Van Halen music at Mammoth shows. I’d rather bomb with my own stuff than gain attention for playing dad’s. […] Expecting to hear Van Halen at a Mammoth show is like expecting to hear Nirvana at a Foo Fighters concert. And getting pissed off that they didn’t play Nirvana!”
Elsewhere in the discussion, the musician addressed rumours of a potential tribute concert for his father, who died in 2020. Here, WVH confirms that there were initially plans to hold a tribute show for the late guitar virtuoso, but internal conflicts between the members meant that these never materialised.
“What I can say is that there was an attempt at doing something. But, you know, I don’t like to speak negatively about people, but there are some people that make it very difficult to do anything when it comes to Van Halen,” he explains.
“After being in Van Halen for a long time, I really have strived to have an environment where there is no walking on eggshells and there is no personality that you have to deal with. It’s just guys having fun making music and just having a good time. […] From my time in Van Halen, there was always some stuff that gets in the way from just making music and having a good time. And, I think, that’s what happened.”