In a victory for kids of famous people everywhere, Eddie Van Halen has announced that his 15-year-old son Wolfgang–also known as “Wolfie”–will be the new bass player for Van Halen. Wolfie replaces founding VH bassist Michael Anthony, who is presumably toasting this news with a rueful grin and a huge goblet of Sammy Hagar tequila. Since a replacement Van Halen vocalist hasn’t been named yet, we have to ask: Is this move Eddie’s not-that-brilliant way to keep people from calling this iteration of the band “Van [lead singer's last name]“?
EDDIE VAN HALEN’s Son WOLFGANG Named New VAN HALEN Bassist [Blabbermouth.net]
I still think they should court Marq Torien of the BulletBoys to be the next singer. All the fun of DLR with only a fraction of the ego. No new songs, no new albums. Just 2 and a half hour shows packed with songs from 1978-84.
The fact that Michael Anthony’s no longer around, though, is a total bummer.
Eddie’s just keeping a family member/probably dna match close just in case he needs an another emergency hip donor or something whilst on the road.
Was Michael Anthony forced to choose allegiences or something? How’d he wind up in the Sammy camp? I can’t imagine giving up the Van Halen gig. Second only to the guy from U2 in the mediocre bassist lottery.
If he’s not careful, EVH is going to take DLR’s place as the crazy one.
Has anyone listened to the bassline of a Van Halen song? Seriously, it’s duh, duh, duh, duh, [chord change] duh, duh, duh, duh. Or frequently it’s just duh…(fade out into chord change) duh… and so on. I don’t know whether that’s a comment on Anthony’s mediocrity or a reflection of the simple fact that anyone playing with Eddie just has to do everything in his power not to clash with him musically his playing is so busy.
However, it does suggest that EVH could pick a 15-year-old *at random* – let alone his son – and make him the bass player for Van Halen. Heck, even Gary Cherone could do it…
Someone needs to text Jah Wobble before he hears about this. Dude’s gonna be crushed.
You’ve missed the point, Slappy. The magic of Michael Anthony isn’t about his mastery (or lack thereof) on the bass guitar… it’s the sweet sweet backup vocals!
Swami sez: Reunion with Roth will be announced in the coming weeks, a perfect setup for the announcement of VH’s induction into the Hall of Fame. Sit back and watch.
…..I’m kind of shocked at the notion that anyone listens to van Halen for the bass parts! It’s really no big deal, to me. If samples from the upcoming record sound like the “Catherine” cut posted on Idolator earlier, I’ll buy it.
…..Gary Cherone was great on VH III. I’m guessing having the band laughing at him and calling him “chowda-head” on the outtro of “Fire in the Hole” was a good indicator of why he’s no longer around. Too bad. We’ll probably get back to 7th grade-level (Roth/Hagar) lyrics with this one.
Did anyone ever refer to VH3 as “Van Cherone”?
WORD! on brasstax’s comment: to use an SAT analogy format, Michael Anthony is to Van Halen as John Frusciante is to RHCP – the playing is important, but the high, keening backing vocals are critical. That’s the real loss. I don’t doubt that Anthony was no Flea in the bass-playing dept.
THe only person to get further and richer on little talent than Ringo Starr is Michael Anthony…
He is quite simply one of the luckiest men in the world. Adam Clayton is not that far behind mind you…
Tom Waits had his son on drums for the last tour, and was the weak point of the band. Maybe its some father son bonding thing? Maybe the kids mom made eddie take him out on tour?
With a name like Wolfgang though, he better be able to hold down that vicious “runnin with the devil”
Despite the fact that people think some bass players have the easiest job in rock, take into account that Michael Anthony donated some great backing vocals to both Hagar and Roth. You can’t deny that signature falsetto helped alot.
I wont underestimate his backing vocals as they were something else…
Not withstanding his vocal contributions, his main job was to hold down root 8th notes and play nothing that took space away from EVH’s ability to solo or add color/accents at any point in the song…I say this as a guy who has played alot of bass in bands that played VH tunes and played with lead guitar players who hated when bass players approached their instrument like a Billy Sheehan or Geddy Lee and not like Michael Anthony…
/bitter bassist
To continue the Father/Son thing, Neil Finn usually tours with his son playing a variety of instruments (guitar, bass and drums)…I saw Finn about 6 years ago and his kid was only 15 or 16 at the time…he was a skilled musician…
…..Sheehan had good tone, Geddy Lee: no. Problem with Lee was that there was no bottom end to Rush, from at least 2112, on. If you can find a copy of circa 1995 Bozzio, Levins, Stevens “Magna Carta,” that’s a fantastic example of great bass playing, while holding down the low end.
…..The bass part is really the most important part of a quality song. And it’s why, despite copious skills with guitar histrionics, unusual chord changes, and keyboard skills, Eddie is not regarded as a top songwriter.
…..No, I’m not a bass player, although one day I will get a nice, old Fender P-bass to noodle around on. When I have more money and leisure time. Really. Until then, my old cheesy Yamaha FB-01 synth module will have to make do.
As a bass player myself, I can say that we can change the tone of a song instantly. A fret slide or octave jump can alter the entire tone of a song if done correctly. Think “With or Without You.” Would that song have resonated as deeply without the bass? Not at all.
We are so unappreciated.
Dev acted as the lead singer on FEM’s Like a G6 and she now already makes her own tracks. Dev’s debut song from her first album (that doesn’t have a name yet) also features producers The Cataracs, who also appeared on Like a G6. The song, titled Bass Down Low, sounds like Dev’s other releases, such as Booty Bounce and Fireball. I wish Dev good luck in her music career!
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