Heartbreaking: Wolfgang Van Halen has officially announced his retirement due to serious health challenge as...

Wolfgang started his musical career as a drummer. He often watched his father rehearse, and at times would try to play his uncle Alex’s drum kit, whereupon the latter would give him a few lessons. Wolfgang started playing drums at the age of nine, being mostly self-taught with only few lessons from his uncle, and got his first drum set from his father as a present for his tenth birthday. Some time later he moved on to guitar and bass. He can also play keyboards and “figure things out by ear”.^[2] Wolfgang later began actively participating in Van Halen, the band. He also made guest appearances during some dates of Van Halen’s 2004 tour, appearing during his father’s extended guitar solo spot and playing with him the instrumental “316”^{[citation needed]} (from the album For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge), which refers to his birthday.

For a 13-year period ending in 2004, Eddie Van Halen collaborated with Peavey on a line of guitars, the Wolfgang series, named after his son.^[3] In 2008, his father named a custom guitar after him, the Fender EVH Wolfgang.^[4][5]

In late 2006, in an interview with Guitar World, Eddie Van Halen confirmed that his son would replace Michael Anthony as Van Halen’s bassist.^[6] Wolfgang first toured with Van Halen in his new capacity in 2007.^[7] In August 2010, Van Halen announced that they would record a new album, with Wolfgang playing bass.^{[citation needed]}

In early 2008, Van Halen appeared on the cover of the April issue of Guitar World with his father, in the magazine’s first father-son issue.

He recorded his only studio album with Van Halen, A Different Kind of Truth, in 2011. The album was released on February 7, 2012.^[8]

On September 10, 2012, Alter Bridge and Creed guitarist Mark Tremonti announced that Van Halen would be filling in for Brian Marshall as bassist for the first tour of Tremonti’s eponymous band.^[9] Tremonti’s first album, All I Was, was released on July 17 of that year. Wolfgang became an official member of Tremonti in 2013, replacing previous bassist Brian Marshall.^[10] He appears on the band’s 2015 studio album Cauterize and its 2016 follow-up Dust.

Sevendust guitarist Clint Lowery revealed in a June 2019 tweet on Twitter that Van Halen would play on his solo debut. “[Wolfgang] will be playing drums, maybe some bass,” he says. “I’ll do the rest. Just not good enough on the kit myself to pull it off in [the] studio.”

In 2021, Van Halen released his debut album Mammoth WVH under the same name. The LP showcased his talents as a songwriter and musician with Van Halen writing every song and playing every instrument on the studio album.^[12] After the album’s release, Mammoth WVH began touring, with Frank Sidoris, Jon Jourdan, Ronnie Ficarro, and Garrett Whitlock rounding out the touring lineup.^[13]

In 2023, Van Halen was one of the guitarists in “I’m Just Ken”, recorded for the Barbie soundtrack.^[14] He would later appear in the song’s live performance during the 96th Academy Awards.^[15]

Van Halen was nominated for a 2022 Grammy Award in the category of Best Rock Song for his song “Distance”, from his album Mammoth WVH.^[16] He wrote the song when his father was dealing with complications from cancer. “[Eddie] cried when he first heard it. It was a really special moment that I’ll never forget.”^[17] Both “Distance” and his second single, “Don’t Back Down”, debuted at #1 on the Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Airplay Chart. The band is the first act to send its first two songs to No. 1 on the chart since The Glorious Sons in 2019.^[18]