Eddie Van Halen’s son, Wolfgang, ‘hurt’ that Grammys gave just brief nod to late innovative rocker dad

When Wolfgang Van Halen was asked to perform a song by his famous father during the Grammys “In Memoriam” segment honoring lost artists, he declined on the grounds that he could never do it justice.

But, he explained in an Instagram post Monday, he didn’t realize that it would mean his dad, the late Eddie Van Halen, would get just a passing mention during the segment, and nowhere else throughout the show.

“The Grammys asked me to play ‘Eruption’ for the ‘In Memoriam’ section, and I declined. I don’t think anyone could have lived up to what my father did for music but himself,” Wolfgang wrote. “It was my understanding that there would be an ‘In Memoriam’ section where bits of songs were performed for legendary artists that had passed. I didn’t realize that they would only show Pop for 15 seconds in the middle of our full performances for others we had lost.”

That omission hurt, he said. They could have mentioned his innovator dad “when they talked about artists we lost in the beginning of the show.”

Eddie Van Halen, who founded and fronted the 1980s rock band Van Halen, died last October after a decade-long cancer battle.

Wolfgang’s mom is actress Valerie Bertinelli, who was married to the trailblazing rocker from 1981 to 2007.

The Grammys were held Sunday. Wolfgang Van Halen said he hoped to speak with the Recording Academy about both his father’s legacy and about honoring the rock genre in the future.

“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,” Van Halen’s bereft son said. “There will never be another innovator like him.”