Why Wolfgang Van Halen won't play Van Halen songs at his concerts

Wolfgang "Wolfie" Van Halen, the only child of rocker Eddie Van Halen and actress Valerie Bertinelli, was performing on stage at the time other aspiring rock stars were assembling their garage band.

At only 15, he went on tour with his father Eddie Van Halen and the rest of the band Van Halen. Now 32, he's the front man for his own rock band, Mammoth WVH. In addition to singing, Van Halen plays all the instruments on the recordings.

Currently on tour opening for Metallica, Mammoth WVH released their second album on Aug. 4. Van Halen says the album is "much darker and heavier" than the first, as it deals with the death of his father. Eddie Van Halen died of cancer at the age of 65 in 2020.

Speaking to TODAY.com, Van Halen shared details about his new music and his father's influence.

Learning from the best: His dad

Wolfgang Van Halen tells TODAY.com that he absorbed a lot of his early musical knowledge from listening to Van Halen practice and perform.

His father first taught him to play the drums as a small child by laying out magazines in the formation of a drum kit on their kitchen table, he says.

As a teenager, he joined the band Van Halen on the road as the bassist.

"I wanted to prove myself, and to be there for my father, because he was really relying on me, which is a lot of weight to put on my shoulders at the time," he says. "Being there, being a part of it, was such an important thing for me. I took it very seriously."

Wolfgang Van Halen originally formed Mammoth WVH as a solo act, taking the name from one of Van Halen’s early monikers.

“Growing up, I told my dad that when I had my own band, I’m calling it Mammoth. And here we are,” he says.

The 32-year-old sings and plays all the instruments in the band's recordings. On the road, he takes a band with him.

It took him a while to be comfortable in the spotlight. While Eddie Van Halen was known for his high-energy onstage persona, Wolfgang Van Halen prefers a more laid-back approach.

"I'm not used to being the center of attention," he says. "That's not my thing at all. I'm a very introverted person."

Wolfgang Van Halen describes his band as “a big family oriented sort of business.”

Why Wolfgang Van Halen had his mom and 'biggest fan' star in his music video

Wolfgang Van Halen honors his dad in his sound, and his mom on the screen: He cast his mom in one of Mammoth WVH’s recent music videos. Valerie Bertinelli made a cameo as the ticket counter lady in “I’m Alright.”

Bertinelli isn’t shy about her support for her son. Both her Instagram and Twitter usernames are versions of “Wolfie’s mom.”

“She loves to show up whenever she can,” Wolfgang Van Halen says. “As her Twitter handle says, she’s the biggest fan. I’m very happy whenever she comes out. But I’d never tell her that.”

Why he won't ever play a Van Halen song at a concert

For Wolfgang Van Halen, the process of creating music is "cathartic."

"Songwriting is a very therapeutic thing for me," he says. "I can get through things that I can’t through talking or otherwise."

He prefers to avoid covering other artists' songs — even, or perhaps especially, Van Halen songs.

"That’s a big reason why I don’t ever want to play Van Halen songs," he says. "Because I only want to play with (my father). And he’s not here to play it."

"That’s a reason that people don’t think about when they constantly demand that I play Van Halen covers at a Mammoth show," he continues.

Quoting his father, Van Halen says that he "would rather bomb with my own material than succeed with somebody else’s."

"I’ve noticed that we’re starting to now that we’re on the second album, we’re started sort of building our own audience now, instead of just everybody connecting to Van Halen," he says. "I’m seeing so many people who discover it, who have no idea, who maybe don’t even listen to Van Halen."

Van Halen did make one exception to his rule: He played Van Halen hits "Hot For Teacher," "Panama," and "On Fire" at the 2022 tribute concerts for late Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins.

"It felt like the right moment," he says. "I think when it comes to paying tribute to my father, me just existing and playing music every day, and writing music is a tribute enough. But it was nice to have that moment where I could play Van Halen’s music."

In a 2006 radio interview with Howard Stern, Eddie Van Halen raved about his son’s musical talent, calling him a “natural.”

“Put it this way, the name Van Halen, the family legacy, is going to go on way after I’m gone.”

This article was originally published on TODAY.com