They’ve recently had to cancel a portion of their latest tour, thus restarting the rumor mill that’s spun almost incessantly around the band for the last 15 years, but Van Halen is doing just fine — at least, if you believe Edward and Wolfgang Van Halen, who recently sat with USA Today for a rare joint interview.

“We bit off more than we could chew,” insisted Eddie, noting, “This record took a lot out of us. And we went on tour earlier than we wanted to so we could play Madison Square Garden, and that threw the schedule out of whack.”

It isn’t as bad as it could have been — as Eddie went on to point out, “a lot of the canceled dates were in cities we already played,” and besides, “in November we’ll hit Japan, and in the new year we’ll possibly do something special, but I can’t talk about it.”

For the elder Van Halen, there’s no question what makes this tour special. “Alex and I used to joke, why didn’t Mom and Dad have another kid for a bass player? Well, now we have our own Van Halen bass player,” he said in reference to Wolfgang. “So now I think, why didn’t Valerie and I have another kid? Could have been the singer…He’s the reason I’m on tour, and probably alive, too.”

For Wolf’s part, it can’t be easy dealing with stepping into the void created when the band’s original bassist, Michael Anthony, was unceremoniously fired, but he says he’s dealing with the criticism from fans — some of whom allege that he’s playing and singing to tape — as best as he can. “If some people think that what I’m playing and what I’m singing is so good that it can’t possibly be me doing it, then thank you.”

“We’ll look over at each other and laugh,” added Eddie. “Sometimes, I’ll go, ‘Damn, that’s my son.’ But most of the time, we’re just a three-piece power trio kicking (butt). He’s an equal.”

Watch the video embed below, or check out a complete transcript from the Van Halens’ lengthy interview, courtesy of the Van Halen News Desk, at this link.

Watch Eddie and Wolfgang Van Halen’s USA Today Interview

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