A New Van Halen Era is Born
- Wolfgang Van Halen, 30, and his band Mammoth WVH will be opening up for legendary rock band Guns N’ Roses on their summer tour. Wolf is the late Eddie Van Halen’s son; Eddie stunned the world when he died from cancer last year.
- Guns bassist Duff McKagan expressed his ultimate approval of Wolf and his music to SurvivorNet, and is excited to see the late icon’s son live.
- Eddie survived tongue and throat cancer, then was diagnosed with cancer in his lungs. It is important to recognize symptoms of throat cancer such as vocal changes, coughing, trouble swallowing, ear pain, a lump or sore in the throat that won't heal, and/or a persistent sore throat. For lung cancer, a new cough that won’t go away, or shortness of breath.
Wolfgang Van Halen, 30, and his band Mammoth WVH will open up for Guns N’ Roses on their summer tour. Wolfgang is the late Eddie Van Halen’s son; Eddie stunned the world when he died from cancer last year.
Read MoreWolf recorded all of the parts of Don’t Back Down himself, and even performed all the parts in the video himself as well. He shot the creative masterpiece at his dad’s studio in the middle of the pandemic.
Wolf recently shared that the coronavirus muddled potential plans for an epic Van Halen farewell tour. He said in 2019 he pitched the idea to his dad of a tour that included former singers David Lee Roth and Sammy Hagar, and Michael Anthony, the original VH bassist. Mammoth WVH would have opened the shows, and the plan was to have Eddie jam during his set.
"The way we figured it, if I were to open for Van Halen, he would come out and play a solo for a song,” Wolf said in a recent interview with The Washington Post. That would have been the end-all dream."
"I will forever loathe COVID and how it was handled," he added, "because they stole that moment from me."
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Although it is heartbreaking for Wolf and Van Halen fans that it never materialized, what a genius idea.
Opening for Guns ‘N’ Roses, however, is definitely a good career move, and his first tour with his own act, which is pretty exciting, even for a veteran rocker like Duff, who also hosts a music podcast with his wife, Three Chords & The Truth and is a New York Times best-selling author.
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Duff’s wife, model and author Susan Holmes McKagan, captured a lively video of the late Van Halen in 2019 on his 64th birthday. Duff and Susan celebrated with Eddie and his wife, Janie.
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Losing a Legend
Wolf's dad died in October at age 65 after a battle with throat cancer. Wolf has continued to honor his dad in many ways, and he's been topping the music charts, just like his pops. "Thank you to everyone who helped me get my first #1 song. I wish Pop was here to see it," Wolfgang wrote on his Instagram at the time.
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Eddie was diagnosed with tongue cancer for the first time in 2000. He had part of his tongue removed as a result of his treatment and was in remission in 2002. But some of the cancerous cells traveled from his tongue to his throat, and Eddie was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2014. Additionally, he was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer in 2017 after he couldn’t stop coughing. His son said Eddie had been “responding well to the medical treatment he was receiving in Germany following his diagnosis.”
That's when Wolfgang's career went on hold, despite his father pushing him to still put his first record out, but he stopped his music plans for his dad, “I am not going anywhere. I'm going to be here for my dad,” he said.
Wolf said he will always wonder if he would have survived if it hadn’t been for COVID, due to severe international travel restrictions and limited access to care.
The late icon said that he started smoking and drinking when he was only 12 years old, and once mentioned the cancer could have been caused from the copper and brass guitar picks he put in his mouth during his decades-long music career.
The two primary causes of throat cancer include smoking and excessive drinking, along with lung cancer. Wolf does not smoke or drink and played a big part in getting his dad sober in recent years.
There are no annual screenings for throat cancer like other types of cancer, but for lung cancer, at-risk patients who have a past or present history of smoking can get screened early.
Symptoms of throat cancer may include vocal changes, coughing, trouble swallowing, ear pain, a lump or sore in the throat that won't heal, unexplained weight loss and a persistent sore throat. For lung cancer, coughing is a primary symptom, along with shortness of breath and chest pain.
Causes of Throat Cancer
Another cause of throat cancer is HPV, or the human papillomavirus. A lot of people don't know that Human Papillomavirus can cause cancer or assume that it can only cause cervical cancer, because that's the cancer that's talked about the most. But HPV can cause a handful of other cancers.
Related: Should I Give My Kids the HPV Vaccine? A Leading Doctor On Why She Says ‘Yes!’
Cancers in the back of the throat are often caused by tobacco and alcohol, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), but recent studies have indicated that as many as 60-70% of these throat cancers may be linked to HPV or caused by a combination of HPV, alcohol and tobacco.
Dr. Jessica Geiger, a medical oncologist at Cleveland Clinic Cancer Center, spoke with SurvivorNet about this difficult disease.
"There are no screening guidelines to screen for throat cancer, unlike cervical cancer with pap smears," says Dr. Geiger. "There are no standard tests to determine if you harbor the virus."
Related: Actor Michael Douglas Works to Raise Awareness of HPV-Linked Cancers
However, HPV-related throat cancer is generally responsive to a combination of radiation and chemotherapy treatments, according to Dr. Geiger. "The cure rates for people who have HPV-related disease are a lot higher than those who have tobacco-related throat cancer."
HPV Awareness: Men Can Get HPV Too
Former & Current Heavy Smokers Should Get Lung Cancer Screenings Using CT Scan, Says Leading Expert
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