Someone needs to keep a chart all of the different nepo babies that have given their opinion on the label. On one end of the spectrum, we have celebrities like Lewis Pullman, Stella McCartney, and Domhnall Gleeson, all who recognize that having a famous parent gave them an advantage in a competitive industry. On the opposite end, there’s people like Ben Platt and Dakota Johnson who take offense at the term. And don’t get me started on the famous parents who just don’t get it. Well, another nepo baby has entered the conversation. This time, it’s Wolfgang Van Halen, son of Eddie Van Halen and Valerie Bertinelli.
Wolfgang, who plays guitar, bass, and drums, has been in the music industry since he was a teenager. His current band, Mammoth, released their third album last Friday. The subject of nepotism came up during an interview with Louder Sound and of course, Wolfie had some thoughts. Specifically, he thinks the term as a whole is “unfair” and that it should only apply to *some* celebrities with famous parents.
Wolfgang Van Halen has explained his thoughts on the term ‘nepo baby’. The frontman and multi-instrumentalist of hard rock project Mammoth, who’s the only child of guitar trailblazer Eddie Van Halen and actress Valerie Bertinelli, has a complicated relationship with the label.
While he thinks being called a ‘nepo baby’ is “unfair” towards children of famous people who are legitimately pursuing their own vision, he says it can apply if someone is just leaning on their parentage without offering anything new.
“I’m one to talk, but I think the term ‘nepo baby’ is a bit unfair,” Wolfgang tells Metal Hammer. “I think it takes the individuality of the person away. People say Jack Quaid [star of Amazon TV series The Boys and son of actors Meg Ryan and Dennis Quaid] is one of the ‘good ones’ and it’s like, who decides that?”
He continues: “I’m not going to name names, but in some cases it does apply: the idea of people getting a leg up when they have no artistic merit or talent. All I’m trying to do is be myself and have my own artistic integrity and my own voice. I hope that people can see that.”
Wolfgang was able to get an early leg up in the music industry thanks to his dad: he joined Van Halen as the band’s bassist when he was only a teenager. However, getting such a noteworthy gig at such a young age had its downsides.
“When it comes to high school, I was almost a loser,” Wolfgang admits. “I had a tutor when I took off for the first Van Halen tour in 11th grade [aged 16], and when I came back for senior year, it was almost a dig. People would be like [mockingly], ‘Oh, look! It’s the bass player for Van Halen!’ It’s pretty funny how kids are.”
After Van Halen stopped touring and recording in 2015, Wolfgang set out on his own path as a musician. He launched Mammoth (originally called Mammoth WVH due to trademark issues) and intentionally moved away from Van Halen’s flashy style, taking more influence from Foo Fighters and Nine Inch Nails.
“I’m certainly trying to forge my own legacy,” Wolfgang tells Hammer. “That’s my goal every day. The one way I’d be like, ‘You know what? We made it’ is if we’re able to sell out a show at the Hollywood Bowl, because that was the last place I ever played with my dad. If Mammoth are ever able to sell out a show at the Hollywood Bowl, I could die the next day and be like, ‘Job well done!’”
Ugh, another one that just doesn’t get it. Literally no one is denying that Wolfgang is a very talented musician in his own right. It’s also absolutely fair that he’d want to forge his own legacy and be known for the music he’s created rather than playing his dad’s music. But like, come on my dude, you got your start playing in your own father’s band. That is a nepo baby by Wolfgang’s own definition. As for Jack Quaid, people call him “one of the good ones” because while he’s also very talented, he’s always acknowledged his privilege and been grateful for the doors that his parents opened up for him. That said, I am curious about who Wolfgang is trying to shade with his comment about nepo babies who have gotten a leg up despite having no talent. Any guesses? It would have been so much more rock ‘n roll of Wolfie to just come out and name those names.
Photos credit: AL/Avalon, Mike Baker/Avalon, Vince Flores/Avalon, Xavier Collin/Image Press Agency/Avalon
Talented he well may be, but without his start as a mere baby in one of the world’s most successful rock bands, chances are no one today would know who he is. Clueless.
It’s funny how he can readily and with ease list the disadvantages of having famous parents who he chose to follow into the music business, like being teased in school, missing classes, but he just can’t bring himself to identify the obvious advantages of playing in his daddy’s successful and established band — while still a teenager.
The only other observation I have about this “nepo baby” issue is that, decades ago, they were not called nepo babies; instead, the media referred to the children of the famous as “coming from showbusiness royalty.” Odd that when they were prematurely admired for their lineage before they actually established themselves in their own right, these people who are now called nepo babies didn’t mind being addressed as part of “showbiz royalty.”
Of course he is a nepo. Ask the hot brunette by his side if she’d still be there if he was penniless JoeShmo.
Nepo babies cannot learn 2 simple lessons:
1) Shutting up is free.
2) your insecurity over not having talent is what escapes your mouth when you whine about how unfair the nepo baby title is. If you have talent, it will show. Don’t pretend being the child of a beloved TV actress and one of the best guitarists in history, who let you play with their band- isn’t a big deal.
But mostly, shutting up is free.
Unfair and accurate.
I don’t understand how nepo babies can still be getting this so wrong, but then again, I can’t seem to make my “socialism is evil” dad understand that as a veteran, public school grad and public school teacher he has reaped the benefits of socialism his entire life.
Some people are determined to believe that they couldn’t possibly have benefitted from any sort of privilege. And as @Ariel said, there’s a bit of the idea that acknowledging they had a leg up would make people think they’re not worthy of their success.
Seriously, all he had to do was say, “Yes, I was very lucky. I’ve tried to make the most of that luck, and I hope I can continue to work hard and carve my own path.”
Also, if you’re going to live in the public eye, you do have to be prepared for a bit of criticism. I’m not saying you need to put up with abuse, but if a few people calling you a “nepo baby” sends you spiraling, maybe take that to therapy.
Are you saying Wolfgang isn’t talented? Because he is, very much so. He had to take over for David Lee Roth when Roth forget the words to many songs when I saw Van Halen live & he can sing & play with the best of them. Now, maybe he’s clueless about his PRIVILEGE about his leg up, that’s entirely different. But he’s talented.
He is musically talented just like his dad, uncle and grandfather. He plays the guitar, sings and writes.
It definitely helps to have someone in the music business because it’s a hard business to crack. There are many talented people out there who will never get a recording contract and make it big. If he wasn’t related to Eddie, Val and Alex we would have never know who he was.
He’s a talented nepo baby. There are untalented nepo babies and talented ones. But no matter how talented he was, there is 0 chance that his career would’ve begun as a teenager playing in one of the biggest bands in the world. That’s the nepo leg up — the access proffered by the parent. It works this way in any industry and often wealth buys you access too. No idea why this is so hard for nepo babies to conceptualize and acknowledge.
If he’d been born some no name in a suburb? He’d’ve had to work overtime trying to hit it big via social media or American Idol or something. And maybe after a decade of work establishing himself to the point where he’d naturally have the access his parents just handed to him, THEN he’d have got his shot at playing in one of the biggest bands in the word.
I am pretty sure, somewhere in the world Michael Anthony is calling him a nepo baby.
He was abruptly fired, so Wolfie could join the band as the bass player at 15 and started touring with them at 16 I believe.
Yes, he is a nepo baby because his Father and Uncle gave him a job and his Van Halen name opens doors. That is the ultimate nepo babyism move.
Yes he is talented, yes he is a nepo baby both things can be true.
It’s just freaking acknowledge your privilege and let your talent be your guiding light.
To deny it and say your talent got you where you are today. It patently untrue.
it’s as silly as Tori Spelling auditioning for 90210 under an alias. Then pretend every casting agent, producer and director. Had NO idea who she was and got the role on her own merit. She did not. They knew exactly who she was and played along to please Aaron Spelling.
Sounds more like Michael Anthony has regrets – https://ultimateclassicrock.com/michael-anthony-van-halen-ending-regrets/
AFAICT “nepo baby” is a pejorative term, frequently used to imply a person would never have achieved any success without family connections. Who does decide who the “good ones” are?
@ Flamingo very well put.