Wolfgang Van Halen slams ex-bandmate David Lee Roth's nepotism comments
Wolfgang Van Halen is responding to former bandmate David Lee Roth's critical comments.
Van Halen, 32 – the son of the late legendary guitarist Eddie Van Halen and actress Valerie Bertinelli – slammed Roth in an interview with Atlanta radio show "The Morning X" on Friday after the show's hosts said they "didn't understand" Roth's comments in a YouTube video he posted in January.
In Roth's video, he mocked Van Halen and alluded to themes of nepotism. A Wolfgang Van Halen impersonator said in the video, “Bro, I want people to know I got this job because of my talent. I would have this job anyway, even if my dad wasn’t God. I just want people to know I got this job because of my talent."
On Friday, Van Halen said, "I guess I'm honored he even thinks about me as much as he seems to. I mean, I guess you have to take what he says with a grain of salt, considering he also said that he wrote 'Eruption,'" the 1978 track with Eddie Van Halen's famed guitar solo.
"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. I don't know," Wolfgang Van Halen continued. Eddie Van Halen died in 2020 of throat cancer at 65 years old.
Van Halen first joined the rock band, which his dad had formed in the '70s, as a bassist when he was 16, following original member Michael Anthony's 2006 departure. He'd started playing guitar at nine years old and is now the lead vocalist and guitarist for his band, Mammoth WVH.
Van Halen added that a reunion without his father is impossible and there was "no way" it would happen, adding that he doesn't "want to play that music without my dad."
In 2021, Roth revealed his retirement and said that he was "throwing in the shoes" regarding his career in a Las Vegas Review-Journal article.
How Wolfgang Van Halen continues to honor his dad, Eddie Van Halen
Back in October, Van Halen married Andraia Allsop married at their Los Angeles home in front of 90 guests, with the ceremony including several touches that honored loved ones who couldn't be there, including Eddie Van Halen, per People magazine's exclusive on the nuptials.
They'd gotten engaged the previous summer after dating for seven years.
Wolfgang walked down the aisle with his mom to an instrumental song that his father wrote for him, titled "316." "It'll be a nice way to include my dad," he told People. The couple also reserved an empty chair at the ceremony in honor of the late Van Halen, Allsop told People. She also wore a necklace Eddie Van Halen once gifted to Bertinelli, who lent her the piece for the occasion.
"Ed would’ve been absolutely beaming and so, so proud of the man Wolfie has become and is becoming and so happy that he has found Andraia, someone who really understands Wolfie, who he is and who he wants to be and supports him wholeheartedly," Bertinelli told the outlet.
Allsop also incorporated "little memory charms with a picture of Wolfie and his dad on it" that she'd made for those with boutonnieres, corsages or bouquets.
Contributing: KiMi Robinson, USA TODAY
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