[Dana’s note: As you all know, our very own Eddie Trunk went off a Twitter tirade last night about the disrespectful, and pitiful manner, in which the Grammy chose to “honor” the passing of iconic guitarist Eddie Van Halen. In light of his frustration, and countless others, Van Halen’s progeny, Wolfgang, says he declined an offer to play “Eruption” as a tribute to his father during this year’s Grammy’s.
He wrote on Twitter today (March 15th) “I don’t think anyone could have lived up to what my father did for music but himself,” Wolfgang wrote, explaining that he was then surprised to see the tribute become just a brief display of his guitar. “I didn’t realize they would only show Pop for 15 seconds in the middle of four full performances for others we had lost.”
“What hurt the most,” Wolfgang continued, “was that he wasn’t even mentioned when they talked about artists we lost in the beginning of the show. I know rock isn’t the most popular genre right now (and the academy does seem a bit out of touch) but I think it’s impossible to ignore the legacy my father left on the instrument, the world of rock, and music in general. There will never be another innovator like him.”
Wolfgang acknowledged that his father, who died last year after a long battle with cancer, wouldn’t have cared about any of it. “I know Pop would probably just laugh it off and say, ‘Eh, who gives a shit?’ He was only about the music anyway. The rest didn’t matter.” But he offered to speak to the Recording Academy “not just about the legacy of my father, but the legacy of the rock genre moving forward.”
Wolfgang, who toured and recorded on bass with Van Halen,will releasing his debut solo album as Mammoth WVH (in which he sings and plays all the instruments), on June 11th. Listen to the song You’re To Blame here and his first release, a very touching tribute to his father, Distance, here.
20 Responses
that’s because eddie lived a decent life. He did not beat his woman publicly, bang anyone who he came in contact with nor was a political person outward. He was a great guy, that did his job very well, and changed the music scene pretty much by himself.So, the jerk offs over at the grammys could careless about him. That’s pretty much hollywood and the music world these days .sad indeed.Go out and beat you partner, fall down, get into trouble drunk doper ,be a political hack and then you will be worshiped by these folks….rip eddie
Why are we surprised by this?
Wasn’t it the ‘Shammys’ that once gave a Heavy Metal award to a Prog Rock band?
Remember, boys and girls, unless you are repeating the same lines over and over again that was written by eight writers and eight producers*, or some crap about “all my bling and bitches”, you could be the greatest guitar player in the world but you ain’t going to win sh?! and the “industry” isn’t going to care.
What matters is that EVH mattered to the likes of us posting on this website; no matter how big or how small – or whether you play the guitar or not.
*The eight writers and eight producers bit is in fact in reference to a post I saw online a few years ago.
Beyonce – Can’t remember the song and don’t care
Eight writers, eight producers – pretty much the same line repeated over and over
Queen – Bohemian Rhapsody
One writer; one producer
Says it all….and I don’t even like Queen.
Another item that sums up the Grammy’s…Beyonce’s daughter, Blue Ivy won one, as well, farcical.
This is the same Grammy’s that awarded Jethro Tull a Grammy Metallica should have received?
But let them have a stage number for WAP.
Does not surprise me at all…..glad Wolfie turned them down. Grammys, like all award shows are political, popularity contests. No thanks.
It’s just another slap in the face to all of us hard rock and heavy metal fans, Rock and Metal have now fallen into the “cancel culture” category, – OURS!!
Ok I`ll be that guy . With our music being in the sad state it is these days and knowing that the grammys would not honor Eddie the way they should I think Wolf should have done it . It would have been a for sure Eddie gets his tribute that he deserves and Wolf gets to be the one to tribute him . It would have been a very cool thing in my opinion.
Ok lemme have it all ,lol
I understand why Wolfie turned it down. He wants to start his career on his own merits not cause he’s the son of one of the greatest guitarists of all time. I think he might have done it if he knew they would have done this.
Ray, I agree it would have be great if Wolfie performed Eruption in tribute to EVH. Wolfie should not have to be counted upon to “tribute” his dad, as EVH’s influence and legacy should be enough for the Grammys to do it on their own. But, with Wolfie performing, and knowing the Grammys history of not recognizing rock and metal categories, Wolfie could have taken matters into his own hands to ensure a fitting tribute to his dad.
F- the Grammys. EVH is the most influential guitarist since Jimi Hendrix. His playing spurned a whole generation of “shredders” who followed him. To not recognize his importance to the guitar, and to music, is an insult.