See Who Dave Grohl Called on for Prank Performance of Van Halen's 'Eruption'

Foo Fighters frontman likes to have fun on stage and often shows off his sense of humor while Wolfgang Van Halen has been hesitant to perform songs made famous by his late father, guitar legend Eddie Van Halen. Over the weekend, the pair came up with a solution that worked for both.

During the Foo Fighters' set Saturday night at the Welcome to Rockville Festival in Daytona Beach, Fla., Grohl teased the crowd, asking them if they wanted to hear him play a guitar solo. With the crowd cheering him on, Grohl seemingly broke into "Eruption," Eddie Van Halen's famed instrumental passage of guitar wizardry that served as an intro to Van Halen's cover of the Kinks' "You Really Got Me" on the band's 1978 self-titled debut.

In video from the show, Grohl looks to be performing a spot-on version, complete with Eddie Van Halen's famed finger-tapping technique, but then something odd happens. Grohl lifts his right hand to the crowd and yet the soloing continues as the crowd cheers. Then he lifts his left hand, but the solo continues.

Finally, it's revealed on the video screen that it wasn't Grohl playing the solo, but Eddie's son, Wolfgang Van Halen, prompting thunderous applause from the crowd. After an introduction from Grohl, Wolfgang continued to shred on "Hot for Teacher" to the delight of the crowd.

Wolfgang posted a clip of the stunt on X, formerly Twitter, writing, "Pulled a prank on the @RockvilleFest crowd with Dave and the Foos last night. Good times. Stoked to rock some shows with them this summer!"

It's not the first time that Wolfgang has paid tribute to his father with Grohl. In his recently released episode of Behind the Music, he revealed that he was hesitant to perform his dad's music but was talked into doing so by Grohl for performances at the tribute concerts for late Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins, who was a huge Van Halen fan.

Wolfgang played guitar in an all-star band that included Grohl on bass, Josh Freese on drums, and Justin Hawkins on vocals.

"But it was tough 'cause I don't really listen to Van Halen stuff anymore. It's tough for me. I'd rather play it with my dad, and he's not here to do that. So it was really an emotional thing. I wasn't even sure if I was gonna do it when I talked to Dave [Grohl], but it just seemed like the right thing to do," he told Rolling Stone. "I know Taylor would've loved it. And, after Dad passed, he was just such a champion. He had Dad on his shirt for every show. Man, it was the least I could do, and being able to honor my dad in that way - other than the way that I already honor him, by just being alive and doing music my own way. It felt nice to do that on my terms."

Tags

Foo Fighters, Van Halen, Eddie van halen