Wolfgang Van Halen: ‘Van Halen Doesn’t Exist Anymore’

Wolfgang Van Halen isn't one to mince words, and he certainly didn't in a new interview when asked about a potential Eddie Van Halen tribute show.

Wolfgang said to The Messenger regarding a tribute show in the future, "It's out of love and how many people my father's writing and playing touched around the world, but life isn't written to have a happy ending — some things just suck. And if I have to figure out how to have a life without my father in it, I think people can figure out how to live without Van Halen, because it can't happen."

He added, "Dad's not here, Van Halen doesn't exist anymore as far as I'm concerned. The music and the legacy are there, and I'll be here to push that forth, through things like dad's guitar and amp company, and help in every single way."

Talk of an Eddie Van Halen tribute has seemingly intensified following Wolfgang performing at the Taylor Hawkins tribute shows in 2022. However, Wolfgang notes those shows were able to happen due to the Foo Fighters not having animosity between them. He says Van Halen is "quite the opposite."

In fact, Wolfgang said to Classic Rock in October 2022, "When it comes to Van Halen and entities surrounding the band it’s unfortunate ... I don’t know what it is with some bands but certain personalities just can’t get over themselves to work collectively for one purpose – that’s been the curse of Van Halen for its entire career ... Hell, it was difficult to make plans even when the band was active."

Fortunately, Wolfgang has a lot to look forward to for the rest of 2023. His band, Mammoth WVH, released their second studio album, Mammoth II, today (August 4). The album is available for download/streaming/purchase in a variety of formats here.

Eddie Van Halen was the most influential guitarist of our generation.

Of course, flashy, fleet-fingered guitarists were a dime a dozen in the late ‘70s and ‘80s. Eddie was better than all of them, but he was more than that. A songwriter, a keyboardist, a studio wizard, ¼ of Van Halen’s four-part harmony team and a band leader that was able to guide VH through losing the most distinctive frontman of the ‘80s and led them to four chart-topping albums with Sammy Hagar.

Here, we take on the tough task of ranking their top 30 songs. (It was really, really tough to cut any of the songs on the first six albums from this list.)