Haters ‘Intimidated’ Wolfgang Van Halen

Wolfgang Van Halen admits he felt intimidated by those who slated him when he became part of his dad’s band in 2007, at the age of 16.

Fans were outraged that the teenager had been brought in to replace Michael Anthony, who’d fallen foul of Eddie Van Halen’s wrath.

The issue escalated after the band airbrushed Anthony out of album covers on their website, and used Wolfgang’s likeness in their Guitar Hero computer game to perform songs written before he’d been born.

Announcing he’s become a full-time member of Mark Tremonti’s band, the 21-year-old tells Billboard: “There’s definitely a lot of hate out there that I try not to acknowledge. It’s definitely intimidating as a 16-year-old to have the world hating on you and saying you’re only in because it’s your dad’s band.

“But I just kind of do my own thing – I know what I can do. When people tell me I can’t, and I know that I’m doing it, whether it’s Van Halen or with Mark, it almost makes me feel better.”

Van Halen were forced to take a break last year after Eddie fell ill. They’ll be back in action later this year, but Wolfgang reports they’ve already started work on their next album.

He says of the follow-up to 2012′s A Different Kind Of Truth: “There’s plenty of ideas laying around and some new stuff we’ve been working on too. You never know what’ll happen.”

David Lee Roth recently said he’d love to see Anthony back in the band, and expressed frustration that Eddie appeared to want to write with Wolfgang rather than with him. The singer said: ” I’m not sure where that actually leads. But truth be told, Edward and I haven’t written a new song in 20 years.”