Wolfgang van Halen recently was a guest in Billy Corgans Podcast “The Magnificent Others”. In it, he not only spoke about his own career and person, but also revealed details about his father, the guitar nicon Eddie van Halen, who died in 2020. For example, Wolfgang revealed what Eddie’s favorite album was.
The musical connection between father and son
He revealed his love for AC/DC with his father, he reveals. “AC/DC was a big connection between my father and me.” He later revealed: “AC/DC is something that I connected to my father. I remember that he showed me the song Big Balls when we were on a road trip. And I loved it immediately, I loved Bon Scott’s voice and was fascinated by Malcolm Young’s aggressive rhythm guitar playing, one of the best, ”he recalled.
Eddie van Halen: This is his favorite album
However, Eddie van Halen’s favorite album was not located in the hard rock genre. “He liked Tori Amos and his absolute favorite album – which is also one of my favorites – was ‘so’ by Peter Gabriel. He had a very eclectic taste of music, ”said Wolfgang.
It is unexpected that Eddie van Halen contained the “SO”, published in 1986 – the hits like Sledhammer, Big Time, in Your Eyes and the duet with Kate Bush Don’t Give Up.
Wolfgang’s own musical influences
Wolfgang also spoke about what brought him personally to music. He originally started as a drummer-the album “Enema of the State” by Blink-182 was inspired for him. So after Travis Barker was his first great inspiration, he later discovered tool and was influenced by her drummer Danny Carey.
“Another important influence for me was Jimmy Eat World. They are often reduced to The Middle, but I think they are a very unique band that I really love, ”says Wolfgang.