Wolfgang Van Halen grew up in the middle of music legends. As the son of Eddie Van Halen and the nephew of Alex Van Halen, his path into rock music was almost impossible to avoid. He had a strong bond with his father, both personally and musically, and often said that much of who he is today came from watching and playing beside him. His solo project, Mammoth WVH, was named in memory of Eddie and that shows just how deeply Wolfgang wanted to honor his dad’s legacy in his own way.
Drumming, however, has become more complicated since Eddie’s passing. This was even more obvious during his latest appearance at Drumeo, where he chose to shift the spotlight to his uncle Alex.
Why did Wolfgang Van Halen stop playing Van Halen songs?
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Wolfgang made it clear that performing Van Halen music isn’t something he enjoys anymore. Since his father passed, playing those songs live just doesn’t feel the same. Although he now tours with his band Mammoth WVH and performs entirely original material, he still picks up the drums occasionally, just not for Van Halen tracks. During his time at the Drumeo studio, Wolfgang opened up about this.
He explained that it’s hard to play those songs without Eddie, and even Alex feels the same way. Wolfgang also described his uncle as someone who has always been private, and with everything that has changed, performing those old songs publicly doesn’t seem like something either of them wants to do right now.
Wolfgang Van Halen thinks his uncle could have been the greatest drummer of all time
In the same Drumeo video, Wolfgang took time to spotlight the often-overlooked role his uncle played in the band. He played some classic Van Halen songs on the drum kit and pointed out how Alex’s drumming was essential to the band.
According to Wolfgang, his drumming skills might have been more widely celebrated if Alex hadn’t been in a band with someone as flashy as Eddie. He also mentioned that with all the attention on David Lee Roth’s wild stage moves and Eddie’s guitar solos, it was easy to miss how powerful Alex’s performance was.