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DARK SECRETS: Wolfgang van halen - The Real Truth

“If I don’t do this right, if I don’t serve this justice, then my life will be over”: Wolfgang Van Halen opens up on his Van Halen cover anxiety at Taylor Hawkins tribute concert

The show, he says, was “do-or-die”

Guitar World

“I can’t stand Eddie Van Halen’s guitar playing”: The Jesus and Mary Chain call Eddie Van Halen one of the “worst guitar players in the world”

The band claims Van Halen’s music influence had a detrimental effect on guitar playing

Guitar World

“I think the only thing was ‘Please, don’t play Eruption.’ He didn't say that, but I wasn't going to do that”: Myles Kennedy and Mark Tremonti on making an Alter Bridge album at Eddie Van Halen’s studio

An invite from Wolfgang Van Halen led to the recording experience of a lifetime as Alter Bridge decamped to 5150 Studios for their new “straight-ahead hard-rock record”

Guitar World

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“I would have loved to get together with Wolfgang”: Eddie Van Halen once asked Paul Gilbert to give Wolfgang a guitar lesson – here’s why it never happened

The Mr. Big virtuoso has been reflecting on his guitar teaching methods, and why he thinks it’s time to bring back the shred

Guitar World

“Have I held Frankenstein? Was it a total, Excalibur-level experience? I don't even know how to articulate that, but I got emotional”: Alter Bridge's Myles Kennedy and Mark Tremonti on recording at Eddie Van Halen's legendary 5150 Studios

The guitar duo recall the surreal experience of going into the “sacred” studio – and how that impacted the DNA of their latest record

Guitar World

Alex Van Halen shares rare recording of a young Eddie Van Halen playing guitar to mark the late guitar great’s birthday

The sorely missed guitar legend would have turned 71 on January 26

Guitar World

“It’s a pretty unique instrument. There’s only two of these on the planet”: Myles Kennedy bassist Tim Tournier on the EVH prototype that Wolfgang Van Halen gave him

Tournier's prototype Wolfgang bass was is a dual-humbucker doozie, masterbuilt by Chip Ellis, and it is being road-tested hard. But will EVH Gear ever release it?

MusicRadar

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“At first I was like, ‘Was that good enough?!’” What Ozzy Osbourne said to Wolfgang Van Halen after his Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Crazy Train cover

Wolfgang honored the Prince of Darkness with a cover of the classic track during Ozzy’s Hall of Fame induction in 2024

Guitar World

“Everybody looks at him as Mr. Tap and Mr. Shred. That’s just a flavor of what he did”: Wolfgang Van Halen on one the most overlooked and underrated aspects of Eddie’s playing

Eddie Van Halen’s talents reshaped the guitar scene in the 1980s, but his son says there’s far more to his craft than tapping

Guitar World

"I live in my childhood home, so the studio's right there. It's what I need to watch and protect, for the rest of my life": Wolfgang Van Halen on 5150, battling demons and the good ship Mammoth

On his third Mammoth album, Wolfgang Van Halen raises his playing, singing and songwriting game - and channels experiences with A-listers and legends

Louder

“I hope your reaction is, ‘I have never heard Van Halen like this’“: New compilation album of old Van Halen rehearsals with Eddie, Alex and Wolfgang has reportedly been released – and it doesn’t feature a singer

The recordings come from the 5150 Studios soundboard as the band rehearsed ahead of their 2007 tour

Guitar World

“I was saying, ‘It’s going to get hot. It’s going to explode. We’re going to have a fire.’ He was like, ‘Don’t worryabout it’”: From Eddie Van Halen’s “uncanny genius” to his brutal crash-testing, inside the making of the EVH 5150 III

Wolfgang Van Halen and EVH Gear's Matt Bruck on the difficult birth of a modern tube amp legend, and arguably the best metal amp you can buy right now

Guitar World

“Dad let me organically follow whatever I wanted. That was his main mantra: ‘Just play.’ It’s that simple”: Wolfgang Van Halen on Allan Holdsworth, unintentional Van Halen-isms, and his go-to guitar-test riffs

As the son of one of the world’s most influential rock guitar players, it’s understandably taken Wolfgang Van Halen some time to feel comfortable in his own skin. Mammoth’s third full-length, The End, is undoubtedly the sound of his confidence growing stronger and stronger

Guitar World

“Do you see Taylor Swift shredding scales? I don’t think so”: Wolfgang Van Halen on how fans unfairly critique his guitar playing because of his father – and why shredding like Eddie isn’t important

The Mammoth multi-instrumentalist has pursued his own musical path – though some commenters can’t help but constantly compare him to Eddie Van Halen

Guitar World

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Metal Hammer

"There was a period during my teenage years where I felt emotionally abandoned, so to speak." Wolfgang Van Halen has a thing or two to say about living up to expectations

From recording with Van Halen to touring with Metallica, Wolfgang Van Halen has worked hard at standing on his own two feet

Guitar World

“If you go down in flames on that stage with Ozzy there, your career is over”: Nuno Bettencourt reflects on Wolfgang Van Halen's absence at Back to the Beginning

Wolfgang Van Halen reluctantly had to drop out of the historic concert due to scheduling conflicts

Guitar World

“They can show you what a guitar is about right away”: Wolfgang Van Halen names the 2 classic rock tracks he plays to test any electric guitar

Forget the forbidden riffs and the flashy taps. Wolfgang finds it's better to keep things simple...

Guitar World

“I had to keep Dad in check whenever he made a mistake”: Wolfgang Van Halen on his early gigs with Van Halen – and keeping Eddie in line

Wolfgang also wanted to unearth some B-sides to help honor the genius of his predecessor once he stepped into the role

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Metal Hammer

“Our connection was so special, I would probably be able to feel him if he weren’t here anymore, and I don’t”: Wolfgang Van Halen details his spiritual struggle following the death of his father Eddie

The Mammoth singer/multi-instrumentalist says that losing his father left a “black hole” that made him question his spirituality

Guitar World

“You have all these modern players like Tim Henson playing crazy stuff that sounds incredible, though they very rarely choose to bend anything”: Wolfgang Van Halen on what sets his favorite contemporary metal guitar hero apart from his peers

Wolfgang has praised this player's ability to bridge the generational and genre divide

MusicRadar

“They’re the absolute pioneers – like a mix of thrash metal and Allan Holdsworth”: Why Wolfgang Van Halen is in awe of a “super heavy” cult band

"They were really creating something new"

Guitar World

“My vision closed up. I felt like I was gonna throw up. I started sweating profusely, but I was freezing”: Wolfgang Van Halen on the panic attack he suffered on the way to his Metallica support – and how it inspired his new album

Flying out to Mexico City, Wolfgang felt his body betray him – a terrifying experience that turned out kinda useful when writing The End

Louder

Building the Beast: Iron Maiden's Steve Harris and Bruce Dickinson on battles, breakthroughs and the birth of a legend – only in the new issue of Classic Rock

Also in this issue: Ace Frehley, Ian Gillan, Judas Priest, Wolfgang Van Halen, Whiskey Myers, The Cramps, Stephen Dale Petit, Massive Wagons, Solstice, Steve Morse and more

Metal Hammer

Metallica gave Wolfgang Van Halen a ‘Perfect Attendance Award’ for playing every venue on their 2023 and 2024 tours

Wolfgang’s band Mammoth supported Metallica on every leg of their M72 world tour for two years

Guitar World

“I didn’t have the brainpower to focus – I was just like, ‘I need to make sure Frankenstein is safe’”: Anxiety, wildfires, slap guitar: How Wolfgang Van Halen made the monster guitar album of 2025

With his third album (and a bit of his dad’s Frankenstein), Wolfgang Van Halen and Mammoth are taking the world of rock guitar by storm once again

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