Wolfgang Van Halen's band Mammoth WVH performed an acoustic version of the single "Distance" on the Today show this morning.

Van Halen began by jokingly apologizing for his mother Valerie Bertinelli's enthusiastic promotion of his upcoming appearance during her own visit to the show the day before. "Yeah, she wouldn't shut up about me," he said. "I'm sorry about that."

He then went on to discuss the message behind "Distance," which he wrote as his father, Van Halen guitar legend Eddie Van Halen, was in the latter stages of a cancer battle that claimed his life in October.

"It's a thing that it's almost like a mantra for you when you lose anyone that plays a large role in your life," he explained. "That's my mantra when I think about my dad."

Van Halen and his band - which features guitarists Jon Jourdan and Frank Sidoris, drummer Garret Whitlock and bassist Ronnie Ficarro - then played an acoustic version of the song.

You can watch their Today performance below.

Mammoth WVH's self-titled debut album, on which Van Halen played every instrument himself, will be released on June 11. He released a second song from the album, "You're to Blame," last week.

When asked about his new band's plans for future live performances, Van Halen obliquely referenced the COVID-19 pandemic that has put nearly all mass gatherings on hold for more than a year: "I guess, when it comes to touring, we're all at a wait-and-see kind of moment," he said.

 

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