Wolf Van Halen Explains How He Agreed To Cover Van Halen For Taylor Hawkins

Photo: Getty Images North America

Wolfgang Van Halen didn't take his spot at the recent Taylor Hawkins tribute concerts lightly.

The multi-instrumentalist, who once said he would never "tread the same ground" as his father, Eddie, took the stage with Dave Grohl on bass, Josh Freese on drums and Justin Hawkins (no relation) on vocals to perform a pair of Van Halen classics on guitar.

Wolfie saw the concerts, Sept. 3 in London and Sept. 27 in L.A., as opportunities to honor and celebrate both Taylor and his father, and he had enough anxiety about it for each of them. (Wolf says the surviving members of Van Halen are no closer to agreeing on a tribute show for Eddie.)

“I didn’t even know if I could do it,” he said in a conversation with Guitar World’s Chris Gill. “I had a lot of conversations with Dave. What a kind sweetheart of a man he is. We talked a lot about [it]. Initially he was like, ‘What do you think? Would you be comfortable doing this?’ Initially, I didn’t wanna disappoint Dave Grohl. And I was like, ‘Sure.’”

But Grohl understand Wolf's reservations about performing Van Halen music; he urged him to take more time to think about it. In 2021, Wolf turned down an opportunity to perform "Eruption" at the GRAMMY Awards to honor his late-dad.

He came back to Grohl saying that he would go through with the performance, but only if Grohl himself joined in. In the end, Wolf says he's "super proud" with how it came out.

Watch the full conversation via the player below!


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