Wolfgang Van Halen has responded to recent comments made about him by David Lee Roth.
Back in January, Roth posted a video to his YouTube page that began with a spoof interview with Jesus Christ.
“Bro, I want people to know I got this job because of my talent,” said the parody Jesus in an artificially sped up voice. “I would have this job anyway, even if my dad wasn’t God. I just want people to know I got this job because of my talent.”
Later in the video, Roth spoke directly about Wolfgang and their alleged interactions during the final Van Halen tour, describing him as a “schlemiel kid” and also alleging that Wolfgang kicked some of Roth’s guests out of the backstage area: “This fuckin’ kid. He’s complaining the entire tour like I’m not paying enough attention to him on stage.
“He’s complaining to everybody around me — the business manager, the security guy, the clothing lady — ‘Dave’s not paying enough attention to me.'”
In a recent interview with The Morning X With Barnes & Leslie, Wolfgang addressed the comments.
“I guess I’m honored he even thinks about me as much as he seems to,” he said [via Blabbermouth]. “I guess you have to take what he says with a grain of salt considering he also said that he wrote [Eddie Van Halen’s classic instrumental] ‘Eruption’ and came up with the Frankenstein [Eddie’s red-white-and-black-striped guitar]. … He said he wrote all the solos that Dad wrote.”
“I guess that’s all I can say,” he concluded. “I seem to have been born into this Van Halen drama that has come way before me. And I guess now that my dad isn’t here to be a target, I guess he went to the next best thing.”
In an earlier interview with The Oakland Press, Wolfgang emphasized that he doesn’t stress much over what Roth says about him.
“It’s one thing when there some dude on Twitter being a [jerk], saying a lie about me,” he said. “But when there’s other people trying to lie about me and make me look bad, it’s just like you can believe whatever you want, I guess. The people who hate me are gonna continue to hate me and I’m just gonna be over here doing my thing.”
