Update (11.16): Wolfgang Van Halen has now officially released Distance.
The first solo album from Wolfgang Van Halen – son, of course, of the late Eddie Van Halen – has been many, many years in the making. This coming Monday (November 16) though, the world will finally get a taste of the long-anticipated album in the form of its first single, Distance.
Dedicated to his father, Distance was one of Eddie's favorite songs from the as-yet-untitled record, which will be released by Explorer1 MusicGroup (opens in new tab).
"Distance is a song that was initially written for the debut album, but was going to be held for a later time," Wolfgang said (opens in new tab).
"As my pop continued to struggle with various health issues, I was imagining what my life would be like without him and how terribly I'd miss him. While this song is incredibly personal, I think anyone can relate to the idea of having a profound loss in their own life.
"I never anticipated Distance would be the first song of mine that people would hear, but I also thought my father would be here to celebrate its release along with me. This is for him."
Along with the song's release, the Van Halen bassist will also reportedly (opens in new tab) appear on The Howard Stern Show on November 16.
Before his passing last month at the age of 65, Eddie described the sound of Wolfgang's debut album as "AC/DC meets Van Halen meets aggressive pop. The riffs are catchy. It’s a little of everything and sounds like a freight train coming at you. I’ve never heard anything quite like it. It’s so powerful that I’m jealous.”
From that description, and the snippets we've already heard, we're expecting something pretty amazing.
