Is Wolfgang Van Halen dissing David Lee Roth in his new song?
As Wolfgang Van Halen prepares to release his latest album, fans are speculating about his latest single takes aim at David Lee Roth, ‘I Really Wanna’.
Wolfgang, best known for being the son of legendary guitarist Eddie Van Halen, has been carving out his solo career ever since his father’s death in 2020. Though he had been working on music with his old man as far back as the late 2000s, it wasn’t until the release of Mammoth WVH that fans got their first taste of what the guitarist could do on his fucking own, now going under the name Mammoth.
While Wolfgang had worked alongside Roth during the band’s comeback tours and the release of their final album, A Different Kind of Truth, their relationship had taken a turn ever since working together. Wolfgang had previously talked about Roth not wanting their reunion album on streaming services, and Roth had recently talked about his tense relationship with Eddie’s son.
In 2024, ‘Diamond Dave’ released a track titled ‘This Crazy Kid’, which features him having a spoken-word interview with ‘Jesus Christ’. In the midst of talking about his time as a rock star, he brings up his grievances with Wolfgang during their reunion tour, where he referred to him as “this fuckin’ kid” who threw out some of his female company during the performance of ‘Ice Cream Man’.
While Wolfgang has talked about Roth sparingly ever since, his latest music video for the song ‘I Really Wanna’ seems to be painting the picture of Roth as an out-of-control rockstar. Despite following a trend in Mammoth videos showing Wolfgang playing everything, he does have a caricature scattered throughout the video.
Although he has not commented on it, Wolfgang’s over-the-top persona in the background has been speculated to be a jab at Roth. Aside from playing up his showmanship throughout the video, Wolfgang quotes Roth back directly, including a line in the song referring to the protagonist as “this fuckin’ kid”.
The video also calls back to many of Roth’s mannerisms that he would do onstage as well. Throughout the video, Wolfgang can be seen mocking his signature tricks that he would do with a sword as well as performing a tapping solo with him flipping off the camera with his strumming hand. The lyrics also serve as a pointed attack on Roth, with the chorus being “I really wanna fuck with you.”
While the song might be taking jabs at Roth, former Van Halen vocalist Sammy Hagar has said that he has had nothing but love for Wolfie in the past few years, having reconnected with him during a tribute show and always getting reminded of Eddie. As of yet, Roth has yet to respond to the video.
