Mammoth/WVH
Dec 2, 2021
Wolfgang William Van Halen is the former bassist for Van Halen (2006–2020) and Tremonti (2012-2016). He was the youngest member of Van Halen prior to their disbandment due to the death of his father, guitar icon Eddie Van Halen.
Wolfgang was named in homage to classical composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and is the only child of Eddie Van Halen and American actress Valerie Bertinelli. Wolfgang has said that he did not know his father was a famous musician until he "started picking up CDs and saw his father's [Eddie's] picture on them."
Wolfgang started his musical career as a drummer. He often watched his father rehearse, and at times would try to play his uncle Alex's drum kit, whereupon the latter would give him a few lessons. Wolfgang started playing drums at the age of nine, mostly self-taught with only a few lessons from his uncle, and got his first drum set from his father as a present for his tenth birthday. Some time later, he moved on to guitar and bass, and also played keyboards.
In late 2006, in an interview with Guitar World, Eddie Van Halen confirmed that his son would replace Michael Anthony as Van Halen's bassist, and he first toured with Van Halen in his new capacity in 2007. In August 2010, Van Halen announced that they would record a new album, with Wolfgang playing bass. He recorded his only album with Van Halen, A Different Kind of Truth, in 2011.
In 2012, Alter Bridge and Creed guitarist Mark Tremonti announced that Van Halen would be filling in for Brian Marshall as bassist for the first tour of Tremonti's band, and he became an official member in 2013, replacing Marshall, and he appeared on the band's 2015 studio album "Cauterize" and its 2016 follow-up "Dust."
In 2015, Wolfgang started working on a solo album, and in 2019 he announced that it had been completed. Under the band name Mammoth/WVH, the first single "Distance", a powerful and emotional tribute to his Dad, the late great Eddie Van Halen, went to #1 on the Rock charts. The debut Mammoth WVH album also features another #1 single, "Don't Back Down" and the most recent single, "Epiphany." Mammoth WVH is set to hit the road along with Dirty Honey for the "Young Guns Tour" starting in late January 2022.