Wolfgang Van Halen says Oscars prep was “more stressful” than his own wedding

Preparing for the Oscars is kind of like getting ready for one’s wedding, at least according to Wolfgang Van Halen, who says that the lead-up to Hollywood’s biggest night of the year was, in fact, “more stressful” than his own big day.

Reflecting on the whirlwind of the 96th Academy Awards last Sunday, Wolfgang’s wife Andraia Allsop told People: “It actually felt like we were getting ready for our wedding.”

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“I think it was more stressful getting ready today,” added Wolfgang, who took on guitar duties on the Barbie hit I’m Just Ken, which was nominated for 2024’s Best Original Song.

Attendee’s of Sunday night’s event were also treated what’s probably a once-in-a-lifetime I’m Just Ken performance featuring the Mammoth WVH frontman, Barbie lead Ryan Gosling, and Slash – the latter of whom delivered an electrifying Les Paul-fueled solo during the song’s climax. The trio were joined by Mark Ronson, the producer of the film’s soundtrack, who played bass.

Speaking about his appearance on the Barbie soundtrack previously, Wolfgang said: “I have a lot of textural stuff throughout the film with two major spots where I do some soloing.”

“One in particular is pretty cool because it’s the big song that Ryan Gosling sings and Slash plays on it as well! Such a cool opportunity. Honoured to be a part of it.”

Movie soundtracks aside, Wolfgang recently revealed that a third Mammoth WVH album is currently in the works.

“Starting this year, the month of January, I was kind of working on some preliminary sort of Mammoth III, looking in that direction of the next album,” the rocker told Ethan Jackson of KDVV/V100. “[It’s still] super early, but just kind of preparing my mental capacity for writing for the future.”

The young Van Halen has also responded to David Lee Roth’s recent slew of public attacks, saying: “I’m honoured he even thinks about me as much as he seems to.”

“I guess you have to take what he says with a grain of salt considering he also said that he wrote Eruption and came up with the Frankenstein. He said he wrote all the solos that Dad wrote.”

He added: “I guess that’s all I can say. I seem to have been born into this Van Halen drama that has come way before me. And I guess now that my dad isn’t here to be a target, I guess he went to the next best thing.”