Wolfgang Van Halen feels “a lot of closure” following his dad’s passing after performing Van Halen songs at the recent Taylor Hawkins tribute concerts.
The 31-year-old musician says a tribute concert for his late father Eddie Van Halen – who passed away in October 2020 aged 65 – looks unlikely to happen, but he enjoyed recently performing Van Halen songs ‘On Fire’, ‘Hot For Teacher’ and ‘Panama’ alongside The Darkness frontman Justin Hawkins on vocals, Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl on bass, and Josh Freese on drums at two concerts in tribute to the late Foos drummer.
Wolfgang said: “I think I already did it with the Taylor Hawkins tributes.
“I feel a lot of closure because my part of the show was a tribute to my father.
“When it comes to Van Halen and entities surrounding the band it’s unfortunate, certainly compared to Foo Fighters, who have their s*** together with interpersonal relationships.”
Wolfgang performed alongside his father as the bassist for rockers Van Halen from 2006 to 2020, but the star insists the band is “very dysfunctional”, which makes a standalone tribute gig for his father unlikely to take place.
Speaking to Classic Rock magazine, he added: “I don’t know what it is with some bands but certain personalities just can’t get over themselves to work collectively for one purpose.
“That’s been the curse of Van Halen for its entire career.
“So my playing at the Taylor shows delivered that catharsis without the stresses of dealing with the Van Halen camp, and the players involved.
“Their camp is very dysfunctional – everyone! Hell, it was difficult to make plans even when the band was active.”