Wolgang Van Halen finding it "fu**ing exhausting" having to justify not playing Van Halen songs

It's been a turbulent 12 months for Wolfgang Van Halen, beginning with the loss of his father, becoming partly responsible for the EVH guitar brand, and finally releasing an album with his project, Mammoth WVH. He's also repeatedly found himself at the receiving end of requests and questioning from Van Halen fans about adding the band's hits to his live sets. An unenviable - and ultimately damned-either-way position.

In a recent interview with Total Guitar, the former Van Halen bassist said, "Dad would rather people not try and sound like him but sound like themselves. I’m being myself – I’m not sitting there doing covers of Panama".

Now, Wolfgang has found himself having to defend his position once more, this time in response to a Twitter user asking, "Why after all your resistance against Van Halen fans did you decide to add WVH to your band name? Honest question.” Wolfgang responded saying "Last time I checked, it was my fu**in' name" 

After the exchange, Wolfgang took to Twitter to voice his opinion on the matter, Tweeting, "It’s this dumb shit where people pull things out of context and boil shit down in dumb ways so they can be mad at me that pisses me off."

"I’ve never had resistance against VH fans. All I’ve ever said is: 1.) You’ll never hear VH at a Mammoth show 2.) I’ll never “replace” my father in VH and continue the band. But y’all just keep finding new reasons to hate me daily. It’s fucking exhausting."

Meanwhile on the same day, Wolfgang responded to a Twitter user's (quite absurd) suggestion that a David Lee Roth/Sammy Hagar joint-fronted Van Halen reunion would give fans of the band "closure" while gaining Wolfgang the fans' respect.

"I have no idea why you people think this is my problem to fix." He wrote, "If I have to come to terms with not having a dad, these people can come to terms with not seeing a band live again."

To mark the anniversary of Eddie Van Halen's death on 6th October, Wolfgang - who's clearly (and understandably) still coming to terms with the loss of his father - posted a touching tribute. 

“One year. You fought so hard for so long, but you were still taken away. It's just so unfair. I'm not ok, I don't think I'll ever be ok. There's so much I wish I could show you. So many things I wish I could share with you. I wish I could laugh with you again. I wish I could hug you again. I miss you so much it hurts.

“I'm trying to do my best here without you, but it's really fucking hard. I hope you're still proud. I love you with all of my heart, Pop. Watch over me.” Former Van Halen Bassist, Michael Anthony gave Wolfgang some reassurance, writing, "Your pop is smiling down, proud of you Wolf".

Mammoth WVH's self-titled debut album was released in June, with Wolfgang taking care of every instrument on the record - guitar, bass, drums, keys and vocals. The album includes The Distance, Wolfgang's tribute to Eddie Van Halen. Wolfgang told us around the album's release, "I really think I found my own way, I never tried to replicate anyone".