Eddie Van Halen’s son, Wolfgang Van Halen recently revealed that there were never any plans about having him be a part of Van Halen band.
At only 15 years old, Wolfgang Van Halen became Van Halen’s youngest member when he joined in 2006, and was probably among the youngest musicians to ever play with such a high-profile rock outfit. The move sparked controversy among the band’s fan base at the time, as it meant the departure of Van Halen’s longtime bassist, Michael Anthony. Having Wolfgang join at such a young age, and under such circumstances — led to accusations of nepotism that took the young musician years of independent efforts to shake off.
Before officially becoming a member, Wolfgang had appeared on several Van Halen shows alongside Eddie. Wolfgang has now revealed that that the lineup change wasn’t premeditated.
“No, it literally just happened. Dad was newly sober. I mean, the reason he really drank the most was because of his anxiety. Yeah, Eddie Van Halen was [anxious]. He got very anxious before shows, and that’s why he drank. And, I think, having me there really centered him. Like, he would even say, ‘F**k, if my 15-year-old-son could f**king do it, then what’s wrong with me?'”
“We just started jamming out of nowhere. I made a playlist of all kinds of tunes, and I went home and learned them, and then we just started jamming. I put both Hagar- and Roth-era stuff on there. And I remember when we finally got Dave in, we showed him the list of the songs we’ve been practicing. He picks [it] up and goes, ‘What’s ‘Get Up?’ And Iwas like, ‘Oh, f**k! Don’t look at that list!’ [laughs]”
