While Wolfgang Van Halen has been making music for more time than most 34-year-olds do, his band's name might have gotten lost in the white noise of hard rock culture. Mammoth WVH was odd. We got the Mammoth part, but unless you knew Wolfgang was attached to the group, you might have been confused.
In fact, the name itself might have implied that Wolfgang was completely full of himself, took himself far too seriously, and thought he was important simply because he was the son of iconic guitarist Eddie Van Halen. Only some of that is partly true.
Mammoth WVH, which has now dropped the WVH, was really only Wolfgang Van Halen, so the band's name made sense. Plus, the fact that he did not use his birth name for a solo project implied that maybe he wasn't as arrogant as things might seem at first glance. Halestorm's Lzzy Hale recently echoed that sentiment.
Wolfgang Van Halen gets high praise from Halestorm's Lzzy Hale
Speaking with Guitar magazine, Hale said, "He's a humble kid, there's none of that 'I'm a rock star's kid’ stuff. I've met quite a few of those guys that think that they're better than everybody else because their dad was famous. That's never been Wolfie."
Not only did Hale speak well of Wolfgang as a person, but she also praised the music he makes.
Hale added, "I think he and his band are gonna save rock 'n' roll. He's a part of that small club of rock stars that are like: 'Hey, you are more than welcome to be a part of this cool thing that we're doing, but we don't need you, we're gonna do it anyway."
Of course, that kind of confidence might stem from the fact that Wolfgang knows many people will respect him simply because his family was the bones that made up Van Halen (Wolfgang even played on the band's last studio record), and other musicians don't have that same pull, but the multi-instrumentalist also backs it up by making great music.
His guitar sound can resemble Eddie Van Halen's in that it is clean and is note-heavy, but Wolfgang holds up on his own. He can also play bass extremely well, and his first instrument was the drums. He got his first set when he was 10.
Mammoth has already had three singles hit number one on the US Mainstream Rock charts, including 2025's "The End." Wolfgang's new album, which carries the same title as the 2025 single, is due to be released on October 24. It will likely be the band's biggest-selling record.
But not because Wolfgang is Eddie Van Halen's son, but because he produces interesting hard rock that is worthy of being heard. Lzzy Hale would attest to that.