Wolfgang Van Halen has explained his thoughts on the term ‘nepo baby’.
The frontman and multi-instrumentalist of hard rock project Mammoth, who’s the only child of hard rock trailblazer Eddie Van Halen and actress Valerie Bertinelli, has a complicated relationship with the label.
While he thinks being called a ‘nepo baby’ is “unfair” towards children of famous people who are legitimately pursuing their own vision, he says it can apply if someone is just leaning on their parentage without offering anything new.
“I’m one to talk, but I think the term ‘nepo baby’ is a bit unfair,” Wolfgang tells Metal Hammer. “I think it takes the individuality of the person away. People say Jack Quaid [star of Amazon TV series The Boys and son of actors Meg Ryan and Dennis Quaid] is one of the ‘good ones’ and it’s like, who decides that?”
He continues: “I’m not going to name names, but in some cases it does apply: the idea of people getting a leg up when they have no artistic merit or talent. All I’m trying to do is be myself and have my own artistic integrity and my own voice. I hope that people can see that.”
Wolfgang was able to get an early leg up in the music industry thanks to his dad: he joined Van Halen as the band’s bassist when he was only a teenager. However, getting such a noteworthy gig at such a young age had its downsides.
“When it comes to high school, I was almost a loser,” Wolfgang admits. “I had a tutor when I took off for the first Van Halen tour in 11th grade [aged 16], and when I came back for senior year, it was almost a dig. People would be like [mockingly], ‘Oh, look! It’s the bass player for Van Halen!’ It’s pretty funny how kids are.”
After Van Halen stopped touring and recording in 2015, Wolfgang set out on his own path as a musician. He launched Mammoth (originally called Mammoth WVH due to trademark issues) and intentionally moved away from Van Halen’s flashy style, taking more influence from Foo Fighters and Nine Inch Nails.
“I’m certainly trying to forge my own legacy,” Wolfgang tells Hammer. “That’s my goal every day. The one way I’d be like, ‘You know what? We made it’ is if we’re able to sell out a show at the Hollywood Bowl, because that was the last place I ever played with my dad. If Mammoth are ever able to sell out a show at the Hollywood Bowl, I could die the next day and be like, ‘Job well done!’”
Mammoth’s self-titled debut album came out in 2021, and the project’s third album, The End, dropped last Friday (October 24). Classic Rock gave the release a glowing four-star review and wrote: “The End, then, is anything but. As the old adage goes, three’s a charm, truly.”
Wolfgang has played Van Halen material on only a small handful of occasions since his father died aged 65 in 2020. Most famously, he performed the songs Hot For Teacher and On Fire in tribute to late Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins in 2022. Talking to Hammer last month, Wolfgang said that messing up a Van Halen song in public would “ruin [his] life”.
