Wolfgang Van Halen says that David Lee Roth has "all the right in the world" to perform VAN HALEN songs live with his solo band. Wolfgang made the comment during a new interview with the Tucson, Arizona radio station KFMA while promoting the upcoming debut album from his solo project, MAMMOTH WVH. Asked if he agrees with Roth's September 2019 statement that he would be "the face of VAN HALEN from this point on" due to the fact that Wolfgang's father, VAN HALEN guitarist Eddie Van Halen, was battling cancer at the time, Wolfgang said (see video below): "I guess, to a certain extent. [Dave] has all the right in the world to play the VAN HALEN songs he was a part of, so I don't see any problem with that. There's such a wide breadth of what the VAN HALEN catalog is than just him, so it might be a little weird to say he's the face of it." While promoting his recent Las Vegas residency, Roth told Phoenix's KSLX radio station that he was once again going solo because Eddie was "probably not gonna answer the bell this time." The singer said that left him as "the face of VAN HALEN from this point on, most likely." Last month, Wolfgang told Rolling Stone about his relationship with Roth: "We're cordial. But it was very business-related. You know, we were always cool, but we really only ever saw each other onstage." Eddie passed away on October 6 at the age of 65. He had been battling throat cancer and died surrounded by friends and family at a Santa Monica, California hospital. He is survived by his second wife Janie, brother Alex and Wolfgang. VAN HALEN had been inactive since it completed its U.S. tour in October 2015 in Los Angeles, California. In early 2019, rumors were rampant that the classic-era lineup of VAN HALEN would reunite for the first time since 1984. It has since been revealed that a health setback involving Eddie was responsible for the tour not materializing. This past July, Roth said that he didn't know if Eddie would ever tour again. He told The New York Times: "I don't even want to say I've waited — I've supported for five years. Because what I do is physical as well as musical and spiritual — you can't take five years off from the ring. But I did. And I do not regret a second of it. He's a bandmate. We had a colleague down. And he's down now for enough time that I don't know that he's going to be coming back out on the road. You want to hear the classics? You're talking to him." This past March, Roth postponed the final six shows of his Las Vegas residency due to the coronavirus pandemic. Roth performed as the opening act for the February/March North American leg of KISS's "End Of The Road" farewell tour.
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