Wolfgang Van Halen has been under pressure to do incredible things since the day he was born. The son of guitar innovator Eddie Van Halen and actress Valerie Bertinelli, and named after one of the most famous composers of all time, the bar for greatness is higher for him than most in rock.
However, even by those lofty standards, the 34-year-old is an overachiever. He joined Van Halen in his mid-teens, then proved himself as a singer and multi-instrumentalist through his hard rock project Mammoth, opened for Metallica in stadiums around the world, and jammed alongside Maynard James Keenan and Dave Grohl. These are the lessons he’s picked up during a life spent exceeding expectations.
YOUR NAME CAN PUT A LOT OF PRESSURE ON YOU
“Being named after Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, that’s a lot of pressure, and then you have Van Halen at the end there… That feeling of pressure is always going to be there, especially when it comes to the last name, but at a certain point you just kind of have to put it on the back burner, not think about it.”
BONDS OVER MUSIC LAST FOREVER
“My dad and I took a road trip to the Grand Canyon when I was in second grade. He played the song Big Balls by AC/DC and it made us giggle. We really bonded over the Powerage album too and also over the album So by Peter Gabriel. AC/DC and Peter Gabriel are the two artists that give me the most happy memories when I think about sharing music with my dad.”
JAMMING CAN BE A SAFE HAVEN
“My parents split when I was 13 or 14. There was a period during those two or three years where I felt emotionally abandoned, so to speak. They were both so focused on their own stuff: Dad fell more into his addiction and Mum was just trying to figure stuff out. During that time was when I hung out with my friends the most, and we would try to cover System Of A Down or The Strokes or The Hives. I played a lot more drums and really focused on playing instruments.”
YOU’RE NEVER TOO OLD TO DISCOVER NEW BANDS
“The last concert I went to with my dad was in 2019. I took him to a Tool show. It was really cool to see him get it, you know? He turned to me and was like, ‘Dude, that fucking bass player!’ I remember showing him Gojira and Meshuggah, and the one thing he said was, ‘The drummer better be getting paid the most!’ Ha ha ha!”
YOU DON’T NEED TO BE ABLE TO COOK TO HOST A COOKING SHOW
“I did a few episodes of my mum’s cooking show [Valerie’s Home Cooking], but I’m not a good cook. I pour a mean bowl of cereal. I don’t know what her take on that is, but I’m happy to be there just to mess with her.”
BEING A ROCK STAR DOESN’T NECESSARILY MAKE YOU COOL
“When it comes to high school, I was almost [seen as] a loser. I had a tutor when I took off for the first Van Halen tour in 11th grade [aged 16], and when I came back for senior year, it was almost a dig. People would be like [mockingly], ‘Oh, look! It’s the bass player for Van Halen!’ It’s pretty funny how kids are.”
BE SURE TO KEEP YOUR SUPPORT NETWORK CLOSE
“It took some time to prepare for the first Van Halen tour, because my dad had his addiction issues. He got sober, but he really needed me there just as this sort of support system. Me being there was a big help, he said it himself. I think it was on CNN or something where he was like, ‘If my son is over there killing it, I should step it up and make sure I can do it.’”
VAN HALEN’S FINAL ALBUM WAS DECADES IN THE MAKING
“I was happy to be part of A Different Kind Of Truth. I think it was important to look back at the older demos [which the band made in the 70s], because you would’ve gotten something way different had we not done that. Over the years, people change the way they write, and Dad’s writing was a lot different from what people really wanted from, like, the classic Van Halen sound. I don’t think people realise how lucky we were to be able to make it happen.”
A LOVED ONE’S DEATH REALLY CHANGES YOU
“I was a spiritual person, but after I lost my dad, I became less so. Our connection was so special, I would probably be able to feel him if he weren’t here anymore, and I don’t. It’s comfortable to think things like that, but when the worst happens and you lose people close to you and you don’t feel that connection anymore, it’s easy to lose grip on those feelings. It leaves a black hole in you.”
GET YOUR FACTS STRAIGHT
“People who are mad at me like to say that Mammoth was the first name for Van Halen. But, no. It was one of many different bands that Dad had played in, and it was one that led into Van Halen. I always loved the name. Whenever Dad told me the story growing up, I was like, ‘If I ever have my own band, that’d be a pretty cool name to use.’ I worked under the idea that it was going to be Mammoth from 2013 onward.”
PLAYING VAN HALEN MATERIAL IS AN ENORMOUS RISK
“When I was asked to play On Fire and Hot For Teacher at the Taylor Hawkins tribute concert, I was like, ‘This is either going to be a nice coda to Van Halen or it’s going to ruin my life.’ I don’t think I would have ever been able to live it down if, the one time I played Van Halen on my own, I ruined it. I took it very seriously."
DROPPING OUT OF OZZY’S FINAL CONCERT SUCKED…
“With Back To The Beginning, things kept changing. We had the flights and the hotel booked and paid for – with our own money, actually. At one point I was supposed to play guitar on Sweet Leaf, then it was Changes. What happened was, I had this Creed tour, and they moved the rehearsal schedule back for Back To The Beginning, and we couldn’t make it at that point. It was a bummer!”
…BUT I STILL GOT TO MEET HIM
“I got to see Ozzy at the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame [where Wolfgang played Ozzy songs in a supergroup with Maynard James Keenan, Billy Idol, Zakk Wylde, Robert Trujillo and others]. After the performance, I got to shoot the shit with him for about 10, 15 minutes. He gave me a hug and I asked, ‘Was that alright?’ He said it was, ‘Bloody brilliant.’ I asked him a couple questions about stories my dad had told me from when they toured together. I can’t give specifics, but just to know that Dad wasn’t making stuff up was a fun thing. Ha ha!”
SUPPORTING METALLICA IS A WILD EXPERIENCE
“Opening for Metallica was unlike anything I’ve ever been a part of. It was really, really crazy. The stage itself was such a nerve-wracking thing to get around. It’s in the round, so there’s nowhere to hide. As a singer, when you’re kind of planted, it’s tough to give the show to the whole crowd, but it was a lot of fun. We were the one band to play every single building with them [on the 2023 and 2024 tours], and they gave us this plaque that said, ‘Perfect Attendance Award.’ It was very sweet.”
NOT ALL NEPO BABIES ARE CREATED EQUAL
“I’m one to talk, but I think the term ‘nepo baby’ is a bit unfair. I think it takes the individuality of the person away. People say Jack Quaid [star of The Boys and son of actors Meg Ryan and Dennis Quaid] is one of the ‘good ones’ and it’s like, who decides that? I’m not going to name names, but in some cases it does apply: the idea of people getting a leg up when they have no artistic merit or talent. All I’m trying to do is be myself and have my own artistic integrity and my own voice. I hope that people can see that.”
KNOW EXACTLY WHAT YOU WANT TO DO
“I’m certainly trying to forge my own legacy. That’s my goal every day. The one way I’d be like, ‘You know what? We made it’ is if we’re able to sell out a show at the Hollywood Bowl, because that was the last place I ever played with my dad. If Mammoth are ever able to sell out a show at the Hollywood Bowl, I could die the next day and be like, ‘Job well done!’”
Mammoth's new album The End is out now via BMG. Mammoth are on tour in the US now and play Download Festival next summer. For the full list of upcoming dates, visit their official website.
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