Wolfgang Van Halen is paying tribute to dad Eddie Van Halen in his band’s newest album.
In Mammoth WVH’s new song “Take a Bow,” Wolfgang played Eddie’s iconic Frankenstein guitar and belted out a rocking solo.
“It was the last song we finished,” Wolfgang, 32, told Guitar.com. “It’s officially the longest song I’ve released to date, and I feel the guitar solo is really special. I played the solo on the original Frankenstein guitar and through Dad’s original Marshall head and one of the original cabinets.”
He added, “It’s straight up what he used on the earliest Van Halen records. It makes me happy to capture some of Dad’s history on this song forever.”
The nearly seven-minute song taps into Mammoth WVH’s hard rock beats with Wolfgang’s powerful vocals and Frankenstein guitar.
Earlier this year, the frontman teased his plans to use some of his dad’s guitars on the new Mammoth WVH album.
“The only thing I have left to do is track the guitar solos,” he told Total Guitar in February. “So what I want to do is go through some of Pop’s notable guitars and do a solo with each of them. Guitars like the Frankenstein or the Shark, stuff like that.”
The band’s upcoming album, Mammoth II, will drop on Aug. 4.
In March, Wolfgang opened up about missing his father — who died in October 2020 at age 65 — in an interview for Audacy Check In, and said it’s important to him that he honor him in ways greater than just singing his songs.
“He’s the reason why I do what I do. I wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t for him,” he said. “So that’s certainly very important. I think just doing what I do is enough of a reference and tribute—just me existing and continuing to be my own person and my own musical space.”
The rocker continued with a reference to Van Halen’s 1984 hit “Panama”: “I don’t think people realize that me just doing that is enough of a tribute and respect toward the life that he gave me, and the interests he instilled in me. I don’t have to play ‘Panama’ in order to respect him, you know what I mean?”
Wolfgang also revealed that he’ll likely never record a cover of one of his dad’s songs — and if he ever does choose to sing one, he’ll make sure it lives somewhere else, like YouTube.
The Grammy-nominated star, who announced his engagement to longtime girlfriend Andraia Allsop in June, said any covers would be “for fun” when he has the time.
[via]
