Eddie Van Halen son Wolfgang revealed in an interview with Ultimate Classic Rock some songs and bands he dad liked and introduced him when he was growing up. The musician also recalled when he picked the guitar for the first time. Wolfgang is currently promoting his first solo album.
Eddie Van Halen son reveals songs and bands that his dad liked:
“When I was 12 and graduating sixth grade, I wanted to perform ‘316’ the song my dad wrote for me [released on 1991’s ‘For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge,’ ‘316’ refers to Wolfgang’s March 16 birthday], at my graduation. So, I just learned that song. From there I took a shine to guitar and tried to learn everything I could.”
“He never really tried to push me into any direction. I think the only thing he really introduced to me was AC/DC, the [1978] album ‘Powerage’ was a big bond for us. Down Payment Blues,’ that was my dad’s and my favorite song. But from there I kind of developed my own taste.”
“I was really into Blink-182. I played [the 1999 album] ‘Enema of the State’ nonstop – that’s how I learned the drums. It wasn’t until maybe I discovered Tool that I started to see an improvement in my skills by trying to play like Danny Carey.”
He continued, saying:
“The only thing where my dad ever was like, ‘Wolf, you gotta check this out.’ He put a pair of headphones on and played me ‘Red Rain.’ He loved ‘So’ so much, and so do I. It’s one of my favorite albums of all time. That’s his favorite album, and he transferred that to me.”
“I was really into System of a Down in middle school. But I don’t think he ever knew the band name. He would always call them ‘La la la la,’ because of the song ‘B.Y.O.B.’ He thought that was really funny.”