In a recent interview with SPIN , Wolfgang Van Halen spoke about the period when it was announced that he would replace Michael Anthony Van Halen 's reunion tour with David Lee Roth .
At the time, Wolfgang received a lot of negative comments, and now the musician is giving more details about the troubled period in his father Eddie Van Halen , who was battling alcohol addiction. "It's not like my dad said 'Go fuck yourself, get out of here' [to Michael]. My dad wasn't going through a good time, and Mike was having fun playing with Sammy [ Hagar ]," Wolfgang explains.
“Sam wasn’t in the band. Of course, it’s kind of complicated and not entirely accurate, but he was no longer part of the band. I completely understand that he didn’t want to be near my father when he was in that state. And it’s not like I told my father, ‘I should play bass.’ At that point, I just wanted to keep my father alive,” Wolfgang confides.
Wolfgang Van Halen's first solo album, Mammoth WVH , arrives this Friday, June 11th. The self-titled album has 14 tracks and has already had some singles released, including the most recent, " Mammoth ".