Throughout his debut album journey, Wolfgang Van Halen has made an effort to mark the notable milestones in his career, and we just passed another one on Saturday (June 11). Mammoth WVH‘s self-titled debut record is now one year old.
“Today marks the 1 year anniversary for the first Mammoth album,” writes Van Halen. “Releasing this music was such a huge thing for me in so many different ways. It was exciting, emotional, bittersweet, a relief. It was the culmination of years of work, trial and error, loss, self-doubt and anxiety. It was a long road that led me to figuring out who I was as my own person and artist. I discovered who I was through the process and arrived at something I could truly be proud of.”
He adds, “It began a new chapter in my life that I’m not sure I was even ready for, but I jumped in anyway. I knew it was the right thing to do because it was what Pop wanted. I just wish I could’ve shared the whole experience with him. I know he’d be proud and SO fucking stoked with how everything has gone thus far.”
Finally, the musician concludes, “I’m blown away with what Mammoth has accomplished this past year and I’m incredibly grateful. None of this would’ve happened without the amazing support from all of you. So with all of my heart, I just gotta say …. Thank you.”
Within his note, Wolfgang also adds that he’ll be “heading into the studio in a few months to start working on a second album, and I couldn’t be more excited.” He also adds, “I promise not to take as long as I did with the first one.”
Van Halen got his start playing alongside his father in Van Halen, then spent a stint handling bass duties in Mark Tremonti’s self-titled solo band before diving head first into his own solo music. It was 2015 when it was first revealed that Wolfgang was working on solo music. By 2019, the album was complete, but the lead single “Distance” didn’t arrive until November 2020, not long after Eddie Van Halen’s death.
The album hit No. 12 on the Billboard 200 Album Chart, but topped the U.S. Indie, Rock and Hard Rock charts. Both “Distance” and “Don’t Back Down” topped the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart, while “Epiphany” hit No. 9, and the songs “You’re To Blame,” “Think It Over,” “Feel” and “Mammoth” all served as promotional singles. And Mammoth WVH’s touring included stints performing alongside Guns N’ Roses and rising rockers Dirty Honey over the course of the album cycle.
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