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HISTORICAL FACTS: 2 - The Untold Story

Wolfgang Van Halen says it's 'unfair' to call him a 'nepo baby'

Wolfgang Van Halen insists he's carved out his own "artistic integrity and voice" in music that has nothing to do with his late father, Eddie Van Halen.

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“It’s fun to have shreddiness, but even my dad would say the best solos are the ones you can sing”: Wolfgang Van Halen reveals the Mammoth guitar solo that was inspired by Smells Like Teen Spirit

The Nirvana classic embodies some soloing advice that Wolfgang once got from his dad, the late, great Eddie Van Halen

Guitar World

“My dad would say the best solos are the ones you can hum and sing. It’s fun to have shreddiness, but at the end of the day the melody has to come first”: Wolfgang Van Halen on the art of soloing – and why he’s still inspired by Smells Like Teen Spirit

“I think there was one moment on this album where I used the whammy bar"

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Wolfgang Van Halen reacts to the term ‘nepo baby’: “I’m not going to name names, but in some cases it does apply”

Naturally, the son of Eddie Van Halen has a complicated relationship with the phrase

Metal Hammer

Watch Wolfgang Van Halen demonstrate finger-tapping on promising new music show Song Cake

The first episodes of Song Cake are available to watch online now

Louder

Wolfgang Van Halen comes of age on Mammoth's thundering third album The End

Now in his mid-thirties, Wolfgang Van Halen adds another compelling entry to a remarkable résumé

Louder

“You really have to work for it”: Eddie Van Halen’s Frankenstein is one of the most famous guitars of all time – but Wolfgang says it has its limitations

It might be considered a Holy Grail guitar, but Wolfgang says it’s not all that easy to play

Guitar World

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“I love Oasis. But sometimes it sounds like Liam thinks he’s in The Beatles, too!”: Wolfgang Van Halen names his favourite Oasis album – and reveals how he got the killer tones for his new Mammoth songs

"Noel is one of my favourite songwriters"

MusicRadar

“Being able to go into a sacred space like that and start the process was a dream come true”: Alter Bridge’s Myles Kennedy and Mark Tremonti on recording at the studio that Eddie Van Halen built – and the 5150 amp that gave them their fire-breathing tone

“It was literally, the minute we walked in the door, it was very Wayne’s World. ‘We’re not worthy! We’re not worthy!’”

MusicRadar

“My dad was a great guitarist but a terrible guitar teacher”: Why Eddie Van Halen had to ask Paul Gilbert to give his son a guitar lesson

He was just too virtuosic to show his son the ropes, it seems...

Guitar World

“I have a button on my iPhone that goes straight to voice recording because the ideas come fast. My list of voice memos is in the thousands!”: Wolfgang Van Halen discusses his songwriting process for his new Mammoth album

"I make this music for myself – it’s what I want to hear!"

MusicRadar

“Some riffs just have that big swing to them. You can definitely hear that in the first Van Halen album”: How Wolfgang Van Halen created a new song with echoes of classic VH – and Peter Gabriel’s Sledgehammer

"It’s very much the kind of idea that mixes heaviness with funkiness”

MusicRadar

“I was just like, ‘I need to make sure Frankenstein is safe’”: Wolfgang Van Halen stowed his dad’s most legendary guitar in his car as a precaution during the LA wildfires

Wolfgang was recording his latest record as the wildfires threatened 5150 Studios, but all he could focus on was keeping his dad’s most prized gear safe

Guitar World

“Usually I’ve done the demos on my laptop, which can be a bit creatively stifling. You can get lost in the sauce trying to program the drums properly and kinda lose that itch”: Wolfgang Van Halen says he’s taking more chances on his new Mammoth album

“Some of these songs couldn’t have existed on a prior album,' he says

MusicRadar

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Louder

"I need one!": Watch Wolfgang Van Halen shred through a fart pedal

Warning: contains the very latest in musical fart technology

Guitar World

“I look at tapping in two different ways. There’s Eruption, and there’s Hot For Teacher”: Wolfgang Van Halen explains the variations in EVH’s trademark technique – and shows you how to play them

The multi-instrumentalist delivered a Mammoth tapping masterclass as he demonstrated how to play one of his new singles, The End

Guitar World

“In my mind, it would have ruined my life had I messed up. I took it very seriously”: Wolfgang Van Halen took a gamble when he decided to cover his dad’s songs – and it paid off

Wolfgang has only performed a few Van Halen tracks live since his dad passed – and he was all too aware of the risks that came with them

Metal Hammer

“I was supposed to play guitar on Sweet Leaf, then it was Changes”: Wolfgang Van Halen remembers meeting Ozzy Osbourne and reveals his original plan for Back To The Beginning

The singer/multi-instrumentalist dropped out of Ozzy’s final show due to a schedule change, but he got to meet the Black Sabbath frontman at the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame the year before

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Metal Hammer

“This is either going to be a nice coda to Van Halen or it’s going to ruin my life”: Wolfgang Van Halen explains the extreme risk that comes with playing his dad’s songs onstage

Wolfgang has performed Van Halen songs in public on only two occasions since his father Eddie passed away in 2020

Guitar World

“Every now and then, you’ll look at the wall and think, ‘I can’t believe we’re here’”: Wolfgang Van Halen welcomed Alter Bridge into the hallowed halls of the legendary 5150 Studios to record their new album

Eddie Van Halen’s iconic studio recently opened its doors to Mark Tremonti, Myles Kennedy and co

Guitar World

“He took us to 5150, and it still had all the tapes up there. There was Jump, the old analog tapes, everything marked”: Lzzy Hale on why Wolfgang Van Halen is well positioned to “save rock ‘n’ roll”

Hale and the rest of Halestorm were invited to Eddie Van Halen's iconic home studio

Guitar World

“It sucks that we are in a world that doesn't have Ozzy Osbourne anymore”: Wolfgang Van Halen honors the Prince of Darkness with emotional cover of Mama, I’m Coming Home

Wolfgang and his Mammoth bandmates heard of Ozzy’s passing during soundcheck – and knew that “just mentioning it wasn’t enough”

Guitar World

“This might be stupid coming from the son of Eddie Van Halen”: Wolfgang Van Halen on why not every song needs a guitar solo

Shredding does feature on Mammoth’s third album, The End, but guitar solos aren’t always a given

Guitar World

“We can finally be what I’ve always wanted to be”: Wolfgang Van Halen has dropped his initials from the Mammoth band name – and it’s been a long time coming

The band trimmed Mammoth WVH to Mammoth earlier this year – and for the multi-instrumentalist, it’s a change he’s been desperate to make

Metal Hammer

"We can finally be what I've always wanted to be": Wolfgang Van Halen's Mammoth drop WVH from name after acquiring trademark

Mammoth name is a tribute to Wolfgang's late father Eddie Van Halen

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