“It’s not any easier… because there’s so much that I can’t share with him”: Wolfgang Van Halen reflects on Eddie Van Halen’s passing four years after his death
Wolfgang Van Halen has reflected on the passing of his father, the great Eddie Van Halen, sharing that dealing with his death does not get “any easier”.
Eddie sadly passed away in October 2020 of a stroke following a long cancer battle. Wolf joined his father as a member of Van Halen as a teenager, and has continued to feel his absence through significant life events such as starting up his own band, Mammoth WVH, and his wedding in 2023.
READ MORE: Alex Skolnick says there was “so much more” to Eddie Van Halen’s playing than his shredding
During his appearance on Billy Corgan’s The Magnificent Others podcast, he says, “It’s not any easier, and I believe Zelda Williams, Robin [Williams]’ daughter, said it the best way that I could ever imagine, which is, even a truckload full of roses still weigh a ton.”
He further adds, “There’s so much that I can’t share with him. 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. And those are some tentpole moments that will always have a tinge of sadness no matter what.”
Also on the podcast, Wolf unpicked why he now chooses not to play any Van Halen material on the regular, as he continues to forge his own mighty music career with Mammoth WVH: “I think when I did the Taylor Hawkins tribute where I played those two Van Halen songs for Taylor and my dad, 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 [do it more often]…”
He adds, “I could very easily shack up and do ‘Wolf does Van Halen’ and probably make a decent living at 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.”
Find out where you can catch Wolfgang Van Halen live with Mammoth WVH this year.
The post “It’s not any easier… because there’s so much that I can’t share with him”: Wolfgang Van Halen reflects on Eddie Van Halen’s passing four years after his death appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
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