Wolfgang Van Halen: Solo Albums as a Means to ‘The End’

Being a guitarist bearing the surname Van Halen brings with it a good deal of baggage. “People expect certain things of you,” says Wolfgang Van Halen, only son of Valerie Bertinelli and late guitarist and band leader Eddie Van Halen. “All I’m trying to do, really, is be taken seriously on my own as an artist, musician and songwriter.” Wolf Van Halen is succeeding on that score: he’s currently on tour with his band Mammoth, in support of The End, the third full-length from his melodic hard rock project.

Eddie Van Halen was a massively influential guitarist; his fretboard tapping technique and arpeggiated style inspired a generation of players, and his approach found its way into music well outside of the rock idiom. With his band Van Halen, he sold more than 10 million albums, won a Grammy and four MTV Music Awards, and helped push hard rock into the mainstream.

Growing up in the shadow of his world-famous music father, Wolf didn’t initially set out to follow in his footsteps. Instead, he started playing drums at age nine. “But there were so many guitars around the house,” he says with a chuckle, “that I thought, ‘It’d be fun to learn how to play one of those things.’” So at age 12, he picked one up and began to teach himself. Before his teenage years had even begun, he had embarked on a path of becoming a multi-instrumentalist.

With drumming as his musical foundation, Wolf developed skills on keyboards and bass guitar as well. “Drumming affects the way I listen, the way I create [music],” he says. “I think from a rhythmic perspective.” His bass-playing skills came in handy when singer David Lee Roth returned to Van Halen after more than a decade away from the group: at age 15, Wolfgang was tapped as the band’s fourth member, taking over on bass for longtime member Michael Anthony. He remained with Van Halen for nearly 12 years, until the band’s end in 2020.

Wolf says that he learned a great deal during his years in his father’s band, often concerning matters beyond musicianship. “It was really about seeing the way that the business operated at that level,” he says. “It’s not just about going onstage and playing; it’s a lot more. [I] learned the right way to act, and the things not to do.”

In his career to follow after Van Halen, Wolf sought to apply those lessons. In 2021 he released his debut album, Mammoth WVH. A solo project in its truest sense, the record featured Wolf as the composer of all 14 songs, playing lead and rhythm guitar, bass, drums piano, synthesizers, drums and additional percussion. Mammoth WVH received positive critical notices, and its first single, “Distance” earned a Grammy nomination for Best Rock Song.

By early 2022 Wolf had assembled musicians to tour as Mammoth WVH. While he would play guitar and handle lead vocals, two additional guitarists (Frank Sidoris and Jonathan Jourdan) were added, along with bassist Ronnie Ficarro and Garrett Whitlock on drums. The five-piece band embarked on its debut tour that Spring. Van Halen emphasizes that while is studio albums are – and will likely remain – a solo endeavor, live onstage Mammoth his a proper band. “The joke that some people make is that I must be telling them” how and what to play, he says. “But I don’t think I’ve actually done that even once.” He says that as long as the song sounds like the song, “That’s all it needs to be,” he says. “Every song should ‘breathe’ differently live. As long as it’s still good, that’s all that matters.”

Back in the studio, 2023’s Mammoth II once again applied Wolfgang’s DIY approach. The album displayed emotional depth in its lyrics, as many of the song were written in the wake of Eddie Van Halen’s death. As with the debut, Wolf’s original songs balanced hard rock textures with a strong emphasis on melody. “It’s about finding balance,” he says. “I don’t want the melody to be sacrificed for the heaviness, or vice versa.”

The tour in support of Mammoth II found the band sharing stages with Metallica, Alter Bridge, Pantera, Volbeat, Def Leppard, Mötley Crüe and other popular hard rockers. Beginning in November 2023, Wolf’s band began securing dates as a headliner. The band played just under 100 dates in 2024, with nearly as many in 2025.

Dropping the WVH from the project/band’s name, Mammoth released The End in October 2025. The album is cohesive, yet the songs offer variety in style and texture. “If you listen to any Mammoth song, there’s a melody for you to grab onto,” Van Halen says. “Every song has a sort of pop sensibility.” With The End, Wolf says that he aimed to make an album that’s “All killer and no filler.” Pausing, he laughs and concedes, “But I guess everyone tries to do that.”

The idea of balance is at the core of Wolfgang Van Halen’s approach in the studio as well as with his his live touring band. As the high profile artist at the center of both enterprises, he recognizes that his famous last name imposes a certain responsibility. “While the Van Halen name may open doors, it doesn’t keep them open,” he says. “And I’m happy to do the work and prove myself.”