Wolfgang Van Halen appeared on BBC Radio and said that fans expecting him to play Van Halen covers will be sorely disappointed. The latter-day Van Halen bassist will be out on the road this summer with his band Mammoth WVH opening for Guns N’ Roses while promoting its self-titled debut set.
Wolfgang said the show will not feature any of his late-dad Eddie Van Halen‘s music: “No, that’s gonna be all original material. As my dad said when criticized over the amount of covers on (1982’s) Diver Down, I’d rather bomb with my own material than succeed with someone else’s.”
When asked about his father’s reaction to his debut album, which was in the can long before Eddie’s death last October, Wolfgang said, “He was the only other person than myself to have all the ideas on his phone. He even had the ideas that didn’t make it to the album, He’s heard probably potentially the next album or two.”
Wolfgang first performed live with Van Halen during the band’s 2007-2008 world tour, which also marked the return of original frontman, David Lee Roth. Wolf made his recording debut on the band’s 2012 album A Different Kind Of Truth. He looked back on recording the final Van Halen album with his dad: “It was great, being able to just go to work with my dad every day was a really fun experience. We’ve been playing for a while at that point, but it was a different space with me involved. And looking back at earlier ideas to kind of recall that energy, it felt like a renewed experience for them, and it was new for me, so it was a really fun time.”
FAST FACTS
- Van Halen‘s final studio set, A Different Kind Of Truth, was released on February 7th, 2012.
- The album featured the return of original frontman David Lee Roth with bass duties by Wolfgang Van Halen.
- The set, which was mainly comprised of revamped songs written and demoed early in the band’s career, debuted at Number Two on the Billboard 200.
- 2015 saw the release of a live album, Tokyo Dome Live in Concert, recorded in 2013.
- The collection topped out at Number 20 on the Billboard 200 album chart.
CHECK IT OUT: Van Halen on March 13th, 2012 performing “(Oh) Pretty Woman” live in Montreal: