In January, former Van Halen frontman David Lee Roth published an audio recording in which he alleged that Wolfgang Van Halen, son of late guitar legend Eddie Van Halen, was guilty of several examples ungracious, self-centred behaviour on the band's North American Tour in 2015.
The recording, originally titled 'This Fuckin' Kid' and later renamed, accused the younger Van Halen of acting "like Santa Claus coming down the chimney and popping out on Christmas with nobody paying attention," and alleged that he'd had business associates of the band thrown out of venues on two occasions.
Now Van Halen has responded. Asked about Roth's jibes during an interview with The Morning X With Barnes & Leslie, Van Halen uses the phrase "I guess" five times in six sentences, as if to emphasise that he's very much resigned to a future of This Sort Of Thing, and is determined not to let it bother him as much as it apparently bothers Roth.
"I guess I’m honoured he even thinks about me as much as he seems to," says Van Halen. "I guess you have to take what he says with a grain of salt considering he also said that he wrote Eruption [Eddie Van Halen's iconic solo instrumental track] and came up with the Frankenstein [his equally iconic striped guitar]. He said he wrote all the solos that [my] dad wrote.
“I guess that’s all I can say. I seem to have been born into this Van Halen drama that has come way before me. And I guess now that my dad isn’t here to be a target, I guess he went to the next best thing.”
The full interview is below. Wolfgang Van Halen's band Mammoth WVH will be playing support on the upcoming European tour from Slash feat. Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators, which kicks off later this month. Full dates below.
Slash feat. Myles Kennedy and Mammoth WVH European tour 2024
Mar 28: Dublin 3Arena, Ireland
Mar 30: Birmingham Resorts World Arena, UK
Mar 31: Newcastle O2 City Hall, UK
Apr 02: Manchester AO Arena, UK
Apr 03: Glasgow OVO Hydro, UK
Apr 05: London OVO Arena Wembley, UK
Apr 08: Dusseldorf Mitsubishi Hall, Germany
Apr 09: Amsterdam Ziggo Dome, Netherlands
Apr 11: Hamburg Sporthalle, Germany
Apr 12: Copenhagen KB Hallen, Denmark
Apr 15: Berlin Verti Music Hall, Germany
Apr 16: Katowice Spodek, Poland
Apr 18: Brno Winning Group Arena, Czech Republic
Apr 19: Budapest MVM Dome, Hungary
Apr 22: Milan Mediolanum Forum, Italy
Apr 23: Zurich Hallenstadion, Switzerland
Apr 25: Munich Zenith, Germany
Apr 26: Luxembourg Rockhal, Luxembourg
Apr 29: Paris Zenith, France
