Wolfgang Van Halen
Wolfgang William Van Halen (/væn ˈheɪlən/ van HAY-lən, Dutch: [ˈʋɔl(ə)fxɑŋ ˈʋɪlijɑɱ vɑn ˈɦaːlə(n)], born March 16, 1991) is an American musician. The son of actress Valerie Bertinelli and guitarist Eddie Van Halen, he performed alongside his father as the bassist for the rock band Van Halen from 2007 to 2020. He also performed with the heavy metal band Tremonti from 2012 to 2016. After his father's death in 2020 led to the disbandment of Van Halen, he began to focus on his solo project Mammoth WVH, in which he performs all instruments and vocals. His debut album Mammoth WVH was released in 2021, and his second album Mammoth II was released in 2023.
In this Dutch name, the surname is Van Halen, not Halen.
Wolfgang Van Halen
- Wolfie
- Wolf
- Musician
- songwriter
2004–present
- Eddie Van Halen (father)
- Valerie Bertinelli (mother)
- Guitar
- bass
- vocals
- drums
Career[edit]
Early life[edit]
Wolfgang started his musical career as a drummer. He often watched his father rehearse, and at times would try to play his uncle Alex's drum kit, whereupon the latter would give him a few lessons. Wolfgang started playing drums at the age of nine, being mostly self-taught with only few lessons from his uncle, and got his first drum set from his father as a present for his tenth birthday. Some time later he moved on to guitar and bass. He can also play keyboards and "figure things out by ear".[2] Wolfgang later began actively participating in Van Halen, the band. He also made guest appearances during some dates of Van Halen's 2004 tour, appearing during his father's extended guitar solo spot and playing with him the instrumental "316" (from the album For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge), which refers to his birthday.
For a 13-year period ending in 2004, Eddie Van Halen collaborated with Peavey on a line of guitars, the Wolfgang series, named after his son.[3] In 2008, his father named a custom guitar after him, the Fender EVH Wolfgang.[4][5]
Van Halen[edit]
In late 2006, in an interview with Guitar World, Eddie Van Halen confirmed that his son would replace Michael Anthony as Van Halen's bassist.[6] Wolfgang first toured with Van Halen in his new capacity in 2007.[7] In August 2010, Van Halen announced that they would record a new album, with Wolfgang playing bass.
In early 2008, Van Halen appeared on the cover of the April issue of Guitar World with his father, in the magazine's first father-son issue.
He recorded his only studio album with Van Halen, A Different Kind of Truth, in 2011. The album was released on February 7, 2012.[8]
Musical style[edit]
Van Halen started playing the bass as his father started asking if he wanted to play with him. Van Halen first viewed bass as "an easier version of guitar, but as soon as I started playing it I realized how wrong that was", but stated that his experience with a guitar made it easier for him to deal with the instrument. His style was described by Eddie as a "rhythm bassist, like I'm a rhythm guitarist and a bassist put together." When he began playing bass, his inspirations were Les Claypool of Primus and Justin Chancellor of Tool. He also enjoys Chris Wolstenholme of Muse, John Entwistle of The Who, Jack Bruce of Cream "and all of the classic players".[2]
Wolfgang's musical style mainly consists of the hard rock, alternative rock, and heavy metal genres. However, he has also released a few pop songs under the Mammoth WVH name, namely "Think It Over" and "Distance".[17]
Personal life[edit]
Named in homage to the classical composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, he is the only child of Dutch-American guitarist Eddie Van Halen and American actress Valerie Bertinelli. He is also the nephew of drummer Alex Van Halen. Wolfgang has said that he did not know his father was a famous musician until he "started picking up CDs and saw his father's picture on them".[2]
Following the completion of the 2007–2008 Van Halen tour, Wolfgang returned to school. Planning to graduate by the summer of 2009, he would graduate in 2010. Wolfgang Van Halen appears as the bassist for Van Halen in Guitar Hero: Van Halen, even replacing Michael Anthony in the band's past incarnation.[18] Wolfgang remained in Van Halen until 2020 when the band disbanded following his father's death.[19]
Wolfgang Van Halen announced his engagement to longtime girlfriend Andraia Allsop on July 6, 2022.[20] The two married on October 15, 2023.[21]
In 2024, Wolfgang Van Halen performed I'm Just Ken alongside Slash at The Oscars
with Van Halen
with Tremonti
with Mammoth WVH
as a featured musician