“I think he and his band are gonna save rock ‘n’ roll”: Lzzy Hale on why “humble kid” Wolfgang Van Halen is the future of guitar
Wolfgang Van Halen might be the son of a rock god, but Lzzy Hale believes that’s far from the only thing that makes him special. In fact, the Halestorm frontwoman says the Mammoth leader is one of the rare few carrying the future of rock on his shoulders – and doing it without ego.
Speaking in the new issue of Classic Rock Magazine, Hale reflects on an early encounter with Wolfgang, and how quickly he stood out from other second-generation rockstars.
READ MORE: “That might be stupid coming from the son of Eddie Van Halen”: The surprising opinion Wolfgang Van Halen holds about guitar solos
“He’s a humble kid, there’s none of that ‘I’m a rock star’s kid’ stuff,” she says. “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.”
One moment that stuck with Hale was a visit to 5150 Studios – the legendary space built by the late Eddie Van Halen, where many of the band’s seminal albums were recorded.
“He took us to 5150 [Studios] and it still had all the tapes up there. There was Jump, the old analogue tapes, everything marked, everything organised to a T,” she recalls. “And we’re like: ‘Are we supposed to be in here?’ He’s like: ‘Oh yeah, dad won’t mind’ I’m like, this isn’t just anybody’s dad’s garage!”
“I think he and his band are gonna save rock ‘n’ roll,” Hale adds. “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.”
Meanwhile, Wolfgang himself has opened up about the weight of carrying the Van Halen name – and the balancing act of honouring that legacy while forging his own path:
“Man, is it a fucking tight rope to walk, with the shadow I’m under and the expectations,” says the guitarist. “And it’s, like, I wanna be able to have the opportunity to reference my lineage, but not copy it and just put a flag in it and sit there and play Panama for everybody every night. I wanna be able to be my own person.”
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