On October 6, 2020, legendary guitarist Eddie Van Halen passed away at Providence Saint John’s Health Center from a stroke. He was 65 at the time of his death and was surrounded by his loved ones— his wife, Janie, his ex-wife, Valerie Bertinelli, his brother and Van Halen co-founder, Alex, as well as his son, Wolf Van Halen.
Wolf had gotten to spend a lot of time with his father prior to his passing. For starters, he took over as the bassist for Van Halen, replacing Michael Anthony on bass in 2006.
The few years leading up to his death, Wolfgang was already working on his debut solo album, Mammoth WVH. His dad got to listen to some of those songs, but he stalled releasing anything in order to just be more present with his father.
Wolf Van Halen and Reunion Show
Over the course of this difficult year, Wolf Van Halen has had to come to terms with his father not being around anymore. He’s taken to the stage, touring alongside Guns N’ Roses, but didn’t have his usual favorite guitarist at his side.
Now, Wolf is firing back at fans online who seem to only be fascinated by getting to see members of Van Halen back together again. He wrote, “I have no idea why you people think this is my problem to fix. If I have to come to terms with not having a dad, these people can come to terms with not seeing a band live again.”
For reference, Wolf Van Halen has made it clear that he will not be performing any Van Halen songs live. He’s strictly looking to share his new solo music with the world. He had a heated response a few months ago that was quite simply, “I’m not f**kin’ playing ‘Panama’ for you guys.”
Fans’ Closure Regarding Van Halen
Wolf’s latest response is of someone suggesting he do a reunion show. The goal is just to appease these people fixated on hearing Van Halen live again.
The person wrote, “Might it be worth doing one concert with both Dave & Sammy to run through a VH Greatest Hits, just to never have to hear these people again? It seems it would bring closure to them, and forever endear you to their hearts and gain their respect, even if it doesn’t matter to you.”
It’s all a larger discussion on what it means for fans to have what they consider “closure.” At the same time, however, it was Wolf Van Halen that lost a father, not the fans.
“Fans don’t need closure. We didn’t lose anything. Our albums didn’t disappear. The concerts didn’t un-happen. We didn’t know EVH personally. And his influence didn’t suddenly disappear. I think everybody will be okay without having ‘closure,'” one person wrote.
Others are suggesting if they want to go see Van Halen songs to get tickets for David Lee Roth’s shows instead. He will have a Las Vegas Residency coming up. He recently posted a picture of a poster from the show that reads, “THE LAST TOUR EVER UNLESS IT ISN’T.”
This appears to be him poking fun at those who announce retirement tours and then come back again anyways.
