Wolfgang Van Halen opened up about his recent performances at the Taylor Hawkins Tribute Concerts where he honored his late father, Eddie Van Halen.
Wolfgang performed the Van Halen classics “Hot For Teacher,” “On Fire” and “Panama” at the tribute shows. He was joined by Justin Hawkins on vocals, Josh Freese on drums and Dave Grohl on bass. The set was one of the highlights of both tribute shows, but Wolfgang was a bit unsure about whether he could pull off the performance.
He told Guitar World in a new interview, “I didn’t even know if I could do it. 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.’”
Wolfgang continued, “I thought a lot about it and I was like, ‘You know what, if there was ever a time, this is it.’ I talked to him about it and I was just honest. I was like, ‘I don’t know if I could do this, but if I do I need your support. I need you up there with me.’ I was like, ‘Whatever the incarnation of what it becomes, I need you there with me,’ and he was like, ‘Absolutely.’”
Van Halen shared those songs were only rehearsed a handful of times before the performance. He said, “It was really exciting. It was really special, man. I’m super-happy and proud with how everything came to be.”