It’s not uncommon for children to follow in the footsteps of their parents. But in the entertainment industry, being a nepo baby is seen as a black mark of lack of talent. Critics believe you got the job just because your mother or father.
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Well, the son of one rock legend has had enough. Wolfgang Van Halen is speaking about being a nepo baby, calling it unfair. Wolfgang is the son of rock legend Eddie Van Halen and actress Valerie Bertinelli.
Speaking with Metal Hammer via New York Post, he says he doesn’t like that term.
“I’m one to talk, but I think the term ‘nepo baby’ is a bit unfair. I think it takes the individuality of the person away,” he told the outlet.
Wolfgang officially joined his dad’s rock band Van Halen when he was just 15. He toured with them until his father’s death and has also had a solo career. Wolfgang highlighted Jack Quaid, son of Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan, while talking about being a nepo baby.
Rock Star Talks Nepo Baby Label
“People say Jack Quaid is one of the ‘good ones,’ and it’s like, who decides that?” he asked. “I’m not going to name names, but in some cases it does apply: the idea of people getting a leg up when they have no artistic merit or talent.”
“All I’m trying to do is be myself and have my own artistic integrity and my own voice. I hope that people can see that,” he also said.
Wolfgang is focused on carving a legacy outside of his father’s.
“I’m certainly trying to forge my own legacy. That’s my goal every day,” Van Halen said. “The one way I’d be like, ‘You know what? We made it,’ is if we’re able to sell out a show at the Hollywood Bowl, because that was the last place I ever played with my dad.”
But it’s hard to focus on his late father because the grief is still so raw after all these years.
Adding: “He never got to see what happened with Mammoth. He never got to see me get married. He never got to see me have kids eventually. And those are some tentpole moments that will always have a tinge of sadness no matter what.”
“In the absence of my father, which is a heavy absence that I feel with me to this day, you know, his pride in me was so large that his absence, there’s just this kind of black hole sitting there. But I have my mother, I have my wife… there are people that see through my insecurities and try and pull me out,” he said on the podcast.