During a new chat with Rolling Stone, Wolfgang Van Halen heavily hinted that David Lee Roth is the hold-up in realizing an Eddie Van Halen tribute show. Wolfgang explained, “What I can say is that there was an attempt at doing something. But, you know, I don’t like to speak negatively about people, but there are some people that make it very difficult to do anything when it comes to Van Halen. . . There was always some stuff that gets in the way from just making music and having a good time. And, I think, that’s what happened.”
While still trying to take the high road, he went on to say, “I would love to just sit here and say everything and say the truth. There are plenty of interviews my dad did, where he straight up just said everything. And people hated him for it and thought he was lying. So I could just say s***, but people have already decided how they feel about things, facts or not. So I can say the facts. But that may not align with how certain people feel. I know how Van Halen fans get. They are very motivated by which specific people they like in the band. And it’s just not worth it. Just, we made an attempt, and some people can be hard to work with, and made it not happen.”
He went on to stress the importance of his uncle, drummer Alex Van Halen: “When it comes to Van Halen, and decision-making overall and what Van Halen does, it’s Al, and then I’m there and supportive. You know, I basically help make the decisions that dad would be there to make, because I’m in there in his stead.”
Regarding giving his blessing to the proposed event, Wolfgang revealed, “It didn’t even get to that point. It was in such an early stage that it never even got off the ground. . . . Yeah, no, I would really like to do something for Pop. . . Look at anything that’s happened with Van Halen. And look how things have fallen apart. You know? The fact that in my tenure, in Van Halen, we managed to do three tours, put an album of original material and a live album out is a f***ing miracle.”
He briefly touched upon ex-Metallica bassist Jason Newtsed revealing he was approached to participate in a tribute with Alex, David Lee Roth, and Joe Satriani: “Just because one person decided to talk about it when they weren’t supposed to, it f***ed everything up. That wasn’t the end of it, actually. It was already not happening.”
Wolfgang told us a while back that his dad, the late, great Eddie Van Halen, was always a source of advice and inspiration to him: “He definitely has some quirky lines he gives me that definitely help me out, like, in terms of playing music, 'If you ever make a mistake, do it twice so the audience thinks you meant to do it' (laughs).”
Mammoth WVH kicks off its 25-date European tour on November 1st in Hamburg, Germany at Sporthalle Hamburg.