“I’ll do what I can, sir”: Wolfgang Van Halen on the responsibility he felt when asked by Ozzy Osbourne to play at his Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame induction
Wolfgang Van Halen has revealed how he felt when asked by Ozzy Osbourne to play at his Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame induction ceremony.
Wolfgang formed part of one mighty supergroup to perform Ozzy’s hits, Crazy Train, Mama, I’m Coming Home, and No More Tears. The band consisted of Billy Idol, Tool’s Maynard James Keenan, country artist Jelly Roll, Metallica’s Robert Trujillo, Zakk Wylde, Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Chad Smith, Steve Stevens, keyboardist Adam Wakeman, and producer Andrew Watt.
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Speaking on the Talking Rock with Meltdown podcast, Wolfgang reflects on the performance, and opens up about the nerves he felt beforehand. “I got the request from Ozzy, so you don’t say no, you’re like, ‘I’ll do what I can, sir,’” he laughs. “We had two rehearsals in Los Angeles before we came out and then a rehearsal the day before in Cleveland so it was nice, the band got to gel, so it wasn’t just thrown together.”
Asked if he’d ever worked with Andrew Watt before, who has produced Osbourne’s recent records Ordinary Man and Patient No.9, Wolfgang replies, “No I haven’t, but I’ve heard wonderful things. He’s a great dude. He was kind of the one setting everything up and he was kind of like the ringleader of it all… It was a crazy supergroup of people, I felt so out of place [laughs]. It was nice to have Zakk there so I could be like, ‘hey, am I doing this right?’ He’s like, ‘yeah, you’re doing fine.’”
As an avid Tool fan, he goes on to open up about working with Maynard James Keenan as part of the band too: “I was certainly incredibly nervous but everybody made it really easy and it was really comfortable, and it was really cool to be able to hang out with Maynard. I’ve been a huge Tool fan my whole life and he’s one of my favorite singers,” he says. “I kind of had to… It’s business time, so I had to put away the fan shirt and just kind of be like ‘yes sir, hey, how’s it going? Nice to meet you, I’m here to jam with you.’ But yeah after a while you know you just kind of hang out and it’s a good time.”
Wolfgang’s band, Mammoth WVH, are due to play three more shows this December. You can view their remaining live dates via their website.
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