He is the son of... but he is also much in his own right.
He's the youngest artist we've reviewed here, but he definitely deserves it.
So here are some facts about Wolfgang Van Halen:
(Photo: Daniel Knighton)
1. He was born on March 16, 1991, in Santa Monica California, as Wolfgang William Van Halen.
2. He is the only son of guitarist Eddie Van Halen and actress Valerie Bertinelli.
3. His parents gave him his name after the composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
4. From an early age, Wolfgang was educated on music, learning mainly from his father - Eddie Van Halen, to play a variety of musical instruments.
(Photo: Instagram)
5. Eddie Van Halen used to perpetuate his relationship with Wolfgang, among other things, by names he gave to various songs and musical instruments during his career. For example, the title of the instrumental piece "316" from the album "For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge", released in Wolfgang's year of birth, is his date of birth (March 16).
6. Eddie collaborated with "Peavey" to create a series of guitars called "Wolfgang series".
7. In 2008 Eddie gave his costume guitar the name "Fender EVH Wolfgang".
8. The first instrument Wolfgang played was drums, which he began playing at the age of 9. He received several lessons from his uncle Alex Van Halen, but for the most part, he taught himself to play.
9. At the age of 10 Eddie bought him his first drum set, after seeing that he was progressing nicely in playing.
10. Wolfgang later moved on to playing bass guitar, guitar and then learned to play keyboards as well.
11. When he was only 13 he had already taken the stage with "Van Halen" as a guest player. One of the pieces he came up to play alongside his father, was the instrumental track "316", named, as stated, on his date of birth.
(Photo: Ethan Miler)
12. In 2006, when Wolfgang was only 15 years old, Eddie van Halen announced that he was joining the band as a full member, replacing bassist Michael Anthony.
13. Beyond performing with the band, Wolfgang recorded the album "A Different Kind of Truth", from 2012, the reunion album of "Van Halen" with David Lee Roth. Wolfgang also sang background vocals and co-wrote the songs.
14. His father used to call him a "rhythm bassist" as on "rhythm guitarist", given his unique playing style that combined rhythm and lead.
15. In September 2012, Wolfgang replaced bassist Brian Marshall in Mark Tremonti's solo band "Tremonti". He later played on his two albums "Cauterize" from 2015 and "Dust" from 2016.
(Photo: Ashley Maile)
16. In June 2021 Wolfgang released his debut album "Mammoth WVH" which is also the band's name. The name was based on one of the first names of "Van Halen", which in 1972 was called "Mammoth". He said he asked the permission of his father and uncle Alex to use the name, then he adds the letters WVH, which are the initials of his name.
17. Wolfgang wrote all the songs on the album and he sings and plays all the instruments on it.
18. The first single released from the album, "Distance", was dedicated to his father Eddie Van Halen, after his death. The video clip for the song includes footage of Wolfgang from Eddie Van Halen's home camera.
19. On June 2023 Wolfgang introduced his second album "Mammoth II". His talent is shining yet again as he is playing on all the instruments in the album with the production of Michael Baskette.
Listen to the album "Mammoth II" on: Spotify, Apple Music
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