Wolfgang Van Halen Speaks Out on Grammy Awards Controversy
Wolfgang Van Halen took to Twitter Monday afternoon to address the outrage the rock community expressed after the Grammy Awards handling of the passing of Eddie Van Halen in its ‘In Memoriam’ segment.
Van Halen–who recently hit No. 1 on the rock charts with his song, “Distance”–revealed that the Recording Academy asked him to play his father’s iconic guitar solo, “Eruption,” but he declined.
“I declined,” he wrote. “I don’t think anyone could have lived up to what my father did for music but himself.”
He continued that what transpired at the awards “hurt” him.
“It was my understanding that there would be an ‘In Memoriam’ section where bits of songs were performed for legendary artists that had passed,” he wrote. “I didn’t realize that they would only show Pop for 15 seconds in the middle of four full performances for others we had lost.”
He continued: “What hurt the most was that he wasn’t even mentioned when they talked about artists we lost in the beginning of the show. I know rock isn’t the most popular genre right now, (and the academy does seem a bit out of touch) but I think it’s impossible to ignore the legacy my father left on the instrument, the world of rock and music in general. There will never be another innovator like him.”
He ended his note by saying: “”I’d love to get the opportunity to speak with The Recording Academy not only about the legacy of my father, but the legacy of the Rock genre moving forward.”
Read his note below:
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