Mammoth WVH, a rock band that has been rapidly growing in popularity, is fronted by none other than Wolfgang Van Halen. Who is this music legend in the making who is technically already something of a music legend? Let’s find out.

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Obviously, the “WVH” in “Mammoth WVH” stands for Wolfgang Van Halen. He’s the front man, guitarist, and founder of the group. Wolfgang himself, as his last name suggests, has a very definitive connection to the iconic rock group Van Halen.

In the 1980s, Van Halen rocked the civilized world, and even some in the uncivilized world. They were actually formed in the 1960s by the Van Halen brothers Eddie and Alex. One of the names of the band when they started out was Mammoth but they eventually changed it to Van Halen.

Eddie Van Halen was the guitarist while Alex Van Halen was the drummer, but Eddie was also doing vocals until they invited David Lee Roth — then unknown — to join the group. Eddie’s friend Mark Stone was the bassist at the time but he departed in 1974 and was replaced by Michael Anthony Sobolewski.

The group signed a major record deal in 1977, released their debut eponymous album in 1978, and ultimately earned decades of success as one of the greatest American rock bands of all time.

In 1980, Eddie Van Halen met actress Valerie Bertinelli and they married the following year. A decade later, in 1991, Bertinelli gave birth to their son and they named him Wolfgang after classical composer Wolgang Amadeus Mozart.

Wolfgang grew up a drummer before taking on the bass and the guitar. In 2006, at age 15, Wolfgang became the new bassist for the group Van Halen. Thus, he toured with his father and they recorded a new album in 2011 called A Different Kind of Truth. 

He soon broke off to do his own thing and eventually recorded his own album, which would be released in 2021. During recording, his father Eddie Van Halen died of cancer in 2020. Eddie and Wolfgang’s mother, Valerie Bertinelli, had been divorced since 2007 and both had remarried, though they stayed close. 

Wolfgang wrote a song called “Distance” in 2015 and said that his father cried when he first played the song for him. It would eventually be released as a single in 2020 and peak at No. 1 on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock chart in 2021. It was also nominated for Best Rock Song at the 2022 Grammys.

The song found its way onto Wolfgang’s debut album, which would be called Mammoth WVH, with “Mammoth” being a reference to one of the original names of his father’s band. He wrote all the songs in what was initially a solo project but it led to the formation of a band that he named after the album.

Another song on the album, “Don’t Back Down,” also peaked at No. 1 on the U.S. Mainstream Rock charts.

The band have since recorded their second album called Mammoth II, set for release on Aug. 4, 2023. They’ve already released the first single for it, titled “I’m Alright.”

As Wolfgang Van Halen is still only in the beginning of his musical journey, it’s something of an extension of his father’s journey and it certainly has the attention of rock music lovers everywhere who cheer for Wolfgang’s success as much as they jumped for his father Eddie’s.