Being the offspring of one of the greatest rock guitarists in history does not come without some baggage. This is particularly true when, like Wolf Van Halen, one decides to pursue a career in music. However, Van Halen has no illusions about how he expects to be viewed by the general public — at least initially.
He addressed the inevitable comparisons to his late father in an Instagram post, in which he answered a fan's question about whether he viewed the niche his dad had carved out to be a blessing or a curse. "It's really equally both," he admitted. On the one hand, interest was guaranteed to be generated by virtue of his parentage, which he admitted was great. However, he also pointed to the flip side of that, when fans of his father listen to his music and complain that it's not "'Van Halen-y' enough for them." He reiterated, "I'm not trying to be my father, I'm trying to be me."
Van Halen also touched on the issue in a subsequent tweet, responding to a comment noting it was unfair to compare him with his late father. "But people still compare every single thing I do to my father's accomplishments anyway," he wrote, "so I guess it doesn't really f***in' matter." However, he insisted to Guitar World, he's not "milking off the legacy ... I'm not sitting there doing covers of 'Panama," he added.
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