WOLFGANG VAN HALEN Hasn't Finished Reading ALEX VAN HALEN's Memoir Yet: 'It's Tough For Me To Fully Interact With'

During an October 30 appearance on SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk", Wolfgang Van Halen, son of Eddie Van Halen and nephew of Alex Van Halen, was asked if he has read Alex's memoir, "Brothers", which came out in October 2024 via HarperCollins. The book is described as an "intimate and open account — nothing like any rock and roll memoir you've ever read" — into the story of family, friendship, music and brotherly love between Alex and his late brother and VAN HALEN bandmate. Wolfgang told "Trunk Nation": "I didn't read the whole thing [yet]. It's funny — when it comes to anything VAN HALEN, it's tough for me to fully interact with. It's still a very emotional thing for me. I know it's kind of funny to hear that hearing 'Runnin' With The Devil' could make somebody sad, and I understand that's people's connection to my dad and VAN HALEN, but for me it's, like, I miss my dad. I can hear the music whenever I want. And that's the tough thing. So I think interacting with that is still a very emotional process that I'm not really ready at any given time to dive into. But, yeah, I haven't finished [reading Alex's book], but definitely it's nice to just be able to have Al say his side and to be able to approach who dad and Al were as people, rather than the icons people hold them up to be."

Wolfgang, who currently fronts his own band MAMMOTH, which released its third album, "The End", on October 24, went on to say that he misses being able to discuss his musical accomplishments with his father, who passed away more than five years after a long battle with cancer. "Are you kidding me, man? There's so much I wish I could share," he said. "And he was so proud of what I was already doing. He heard everything from the first [MAMMOTH] record, and he was so happy with that. But just to be able to check in with him and show him, like, 'Hey, did you see I opened from METALLICA? Isn't that crazy?' He would've been, like, 'Holy crap.'"

Wolfgang continued: "When you lose somebody that important to you, you just wanna share everything with them. And it just keeps piling up, and it sucks 'cause I'm never able to release that and share it with him. But some things just suck. It's life."

Back in June 2023, Wolfgang was asked by "The Mistress Carrie Podcast" if he thinks musical ability is "genetic or learned." He responded: "I think maybe genetics maybe placed a sort of nugget of interest towards music. And I understand — constantly, every day, I think every day on social media I get somebody saying, 'Oh, it's in your genes. It's in your blood.' And I get that to a certain extent, and I totally get that it's coming from a positive place, but overall, it's, like, I play [laughs] a lot. I've been playing since I was nine. I've been playing way more than half my life. And at a certain point, it's that sort of ten-thousand-hour rule: the more time you put into something, the more results you get."

He continued: "Yeah, I can understand where that comes from also. I grew up in an environment that was very music positive. Although that's a weird thing to say; if there ever was a music-'negative' environment, I wouldn't wanna be in that. But, yeah, growing up in the environment and just being encouraged, I guess, by both my parents, it certainly didn't stop me from improving."

"The End" is a 10-track effort which clocks in at 39 minutes and showcases the evolution of Wolfgang and his songwriting since he launched his solo career in 2020. Recorded at the legendary 5150 studio, the album was produced by friend and collaborator Michael "Elvis" Baskette.

To celebrate "The End" being in stores, MAMMOTH will head out on a fall headline run. "The End" tour kicks off on October 31 and runs for five weeks before it wraps up on December 7. Longtime friend Myles Kennedy will be the special guest on the run.

MAMMOTH's touring lineup features Wolfgang on guitar and lead vocals, Frank Sidoris (SLASH FEATURING MYLES KENNEDY AND THE CONSPIRATORS) on guitar, Jon Jourdan on guitar and vocals, Garrett Whitlock (TREMONTI) on drums, and Ronnie Ficarro on bass.

Photo by Travis Shinn