Wolfgang explains why his uncle Alex Van Halen is probably retired

Drummer Alex Van Halen has been a private person since the early 2000s, especially because over the past 20 years he rarely spoke to the press outside of Van Halen concerts. He finally opened up to fans and the media in 2024 with the release of his book “Brothers”, which shares stories about his family, his brother Eddie Van Halen, and, of course, their band. Alex also revealed that there were plans for an Eddie tribute tour, but David Lee Roth ruined it by refusing to acknowledge Eddie during the shows.

Alongside the book’s release last year, Alex unveiled an instrumental track he had recorded with the late Eddie Van Halen, and he mentioned that there might be more material he could work on in the future. However, there are no indications that new live performances will happen anytime soon. In an interview with Drumeo (Transcribed by Ultimate Guitar), his nephew Wolfgang Van Halen explained why his uncle is likely retired and why he no longer enjoys playing or even listening to Van Halen songs.

Wolfgang explains why his uncle Alex Van Halen is probably retired

“It’s kind of the same thing with me and with Van Halen stuff. I’m really just not interested in playing it anymore without dad. And I know he feels the exact same way. I’ll play it for fun every now and then. If Dave Grohl comes to me and goes like, ‘Hey, you wanna do this?’ Like, ‘Yes, Dave Grohl, I would like to do that with you.’ But, overall, it’s really a tough thing for me.”

“I just don’t listen to Van Halen anymore. I understand, like, that’s the connection that everybody has. But, obviously, my connection was a little different. (Laughs). So, when it comes to listening to it, it’s just like, I have the memories. I’m so happy of the time that I was able to be that three-piece with dad and Al. But I totally get why Al is… Al was already a private guy to begin with. Now, it’s like, why would you want to play? I’m sure he probably keeps the chops up every now and then,” Wolfgang said. “But yeah, it’s just not as fun. Unfortunately,” Wolfgang Van Halen said.

Wolfgang formed his band Mammoth back in 2015 and the name is a reference to an early band formed by his father Eddie and uncle Alex before Van Halen. Since then he released two studio albums: “Mammoth WVH” (2021) and “Mammoth II” (2023). All the songs from both albums were written by him and he also recorded all the instruments.