© 2026 ABC News

While Eilish also had no idea who Huey Lewis, Run DMC, or even what a Cabbage Patch Doll is, apparently not being well versed in Van Halen was the most unforgivable to slighted fans.

The internet's collective ire finally caught the attention Van Halen bassist Wolfgang Van Halen, who is also Eddie Van Halen's son.

The artist took to Twitter on Monday, writing, \"If you haven’t heard of [Billie Eilish], go check her out. She’s cool. If you haven’t heard of [Van Halen], go check them out. They’re cool too.\"

He then dug into the meat of the issue by reminding fans, \"Music is supposed to bring us together, not divide us. Listen to what you want and don’t shame others for not knowing what you like.\"

If you haven’t heard of @billieeilish, go check her out. She’s cool. If you haven’t heard of @VanHalen, go check them out. They’re cool too.

Music is supposed to bring us together, not divide us. Listen to what you want and don’t shame others for not knowing what you like.

— Wolf Van Halen (@WolfVanHalen) December 2, 2019

The tweet has since grabbed the attention of Smash Mouth, who also tweeted in support of Eilish on Monday.

Fans have since pointed out that Eilish was only 10 when Van Halen last came out with new music, 2012's \"A Different Kind of Truth.\"

As of Tuesday, Eilish has not responded on social media.

","canonicalUrl":"https://abcnews.com/GMA/Culture/wolfgang-van-halen-defends-billie-eilish-knowing-van/story?id=67461300","legacySlug":"/culture/story/wolfgang-van-halen-defends-billie-eilish-knowing-van-67461300","noIndexNoFollow":false},"publishTime":"14:59","publishDate":"12-03-2019","updatedTime":"17:54","updatedDate":"12-03-2019","socialImage":{"alt":"Billie Eilish at the 2019 LACMA Art and Film Gala in Los Angeles, Nov. 2, 2019.","credit":"Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, FILE","ratio":"16x9","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/billie-ap-er-191203_hpMain_16x9_1600.jpg","width":992,"height":558},"datePublished":"12/3/2019 14:59:00 GMT","video":{"live":false,"id":67461300,"headline":"Why Eddie Van Halen's son is backing Billie Eilish","mediaAssetTitle":"VAN_HALEN_EILISH_191203","description":"Eilish, who is 17, said that she didn't know who Van Halen was.","duration":"1:43","posterImg":{"url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/default-img-undefined.png","width":608,"height":342},"video":{"feed":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2019/11/191111_gma_digital_devilclefs1_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8"},"playlist":["134977845","134871343","134611251"]},"relatedItems":[{"contentType":"video","date":"July 22, 2026","headline":"Malcolm-Jamal Warner's widow sues his mother after drowning death","section":"News","slug":"/video/134977845","id":"134977845","image":{"alt":"VIDEO: Malcolm-Jamal Warner's widow sues his mother after drowning death","credit":"ABCNews.com","ratio":"1x1","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260722_gma_norwood_warner1_734_hpMain_1x1_608.jpg","width":384,"height":384},"images":{"alt":"VIDEO: Malcolm-Jamal Warner's widow sues his mother after drowning death","credit":"ABCNews.com","crops":[{"16x9":{"small":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260722_gma_norwood_warner1_734_hpMain_16x9_608.jpg","medium":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260722_gma_norwood_warner1_734_hpMain_16x9_992.jpg","large":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260722_gma_norwood_warner1_734_hpMain_16x9_1600.jpg"}},{"9x16":{"small":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260722_gma_norwood_warner1_734_hpMain_9x16_608.jpg","medium":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260722_gma_norwood_warner1_734_hpMain_9x16_992.jpg","large":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260722_gma_norwood_warner1_734_hpMain_16x9_1600.jpg"}},{"1x1":{"small":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260722_gma_norwood_warner1_734_hpMain_1x1_608.jpg","medium":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260722_gma_norwood_warner1_734_hpMain_1x1_992.jpg","large":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260722_gma_norwood_warner1_734_hpMain_1x1_1600.jpg"}}]}},{"contentType":"video","date":"July 18, 2026","headline":"New NASA images show Mars in motion","section":"News","slug":"/video/134871343","id":"134871343","image":{"alt":"VIDEO: New NASA images show Mars in motion","credit":"ABCNews.com","ratio":"1x1","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260718_gma_play_mars3_hpMain_1x1_608.jpg","width":384,"height":384},"images":{"alt":"VIDEO: New NASA images show Mars in motion","credit":"ABCNews.com","crops":[{"16x9":{"small":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260718_gma_play_mars3_hpMain_16x9_608.jpg","medium":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260718_gma_play_mars3_hpMain_16x9_992.jpg","large":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260718_gma_play_mars3_hpMain_16x9_1600.jpg"}},{"9x16":{"small":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260718_gma_play_mars3_hpMain_9x16_608.jpg","medium":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260718_gma_play_mars3_hpMain_9x16_992.jpg","large":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260718_gma_play_mars3_hpMain_16x9_1600.jpg"}},{"1x1":{"small":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260718_gma_play_mars3_hpMain_1x1_608.jpg","medium":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260718_gma_play_mars3_hpMain_1x1_992.jpg","large":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260718_gma_play_mars3_hpMain_1x1_1600.jpg"}}]}},{"contentType":"video","date":"July 9, 2026","headline":"Family speaks out after man died in ICE shooting in Texas","section":"News","slug":"/video/134611251","id":"134611251","image":{"alt":"VIDEO: Family speaks out after man died in ICE shooting in Texas","credit":"ABCNews.com","ratio":"1x1","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260709_gma_quinones_ice1_hpMain_1x1_608.jpg","width":384,"height":384},"images":{"alt":"VIDEO: Family speaks out after man died in ICE shooting in Texas","credit":"ABCNews.com","crops":[{"16x9":{"small":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260709_gma_quinones_ice1_hpMain_16x9_608.jpg","medium":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260709_gma_quinones_ice1_hpMain_16x9_992.jpg","large":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260709_gma_quinones_ice1_hpMain_16x9_1600.jpg"}},{"9x16":{"small":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260709_gma_quinones_ice1_hpMain_9x16_608.jpg","medium":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260709_gma_quinones_ice1_hpMain_9x16_992.jpg","large":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260709_gma_quinones_ice1_hpMain_16x9_1600.jpg"}},{"1x1":{"small":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260709_gma_quinones_ice1_hpMain_1x1_608.jpg","medium":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260709_gma_quinones_ice1_hpMain_1x1_992.jpg","large":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260709_gma_quinones_ice1_hpMain_1x1_1600.jpg"}}]}}],"relatedContentSection":"news","schemaContent":{"name":"Why Eddie Van Halen's son is backing Billie Eilish","description":"Eilish, who is 17, said that she didn't know who Van Halen was.","duration":"1:43","uploadDate":"12-03-2019","publication":"12-03-2019","images":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/default-img-undefined.png","url":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2019/11/191111_gma_digital_devilclefs1_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8","contentUrl":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2019/11/191111_gma_digital_devilclefs1_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8","link":"https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/culture/story/wolfgang-van-halen-defends-billie-eilish-knowing-van-67461300"}},"playlist":[{"id":"134959102","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"134926667","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"134910526","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"134846473","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"134848966","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"134761751","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"134787741","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"134782596","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"134741027","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"134751717","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"134708317","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"134548164","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"134542058","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"134416060","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"134443994","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"134406623","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"134358132","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"134353508","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"134335187","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"134334942","contentType":"story","section":"news"}],"kvps":{"pgtyp":"article","lang":"en","sp":"goodmorningamerica","programmatic":"true","bundleId":"com.abcnews"}},"analytics":{"accountID":"wdgnewwdgnewgmaweb","ns":"gma","pageName":"gma:culture:video","pageType":"video","globalSpecVersion":"v1.08","siteDifferentiator":"gma:site","tagID":"g_page01","userABCookie":"0","section":"culture","title":"Why Eddie Van Halen's son is backing Billie Eilish","pubTime":"09:59","pubDate":"12-03-2019","modTime":"12:54","modDate":"12-03-2019","taxonomyTags":"none","id":67461300,"editorialOtherSubjects":"","wordCount":"none","columns":"none","authors":"Nidhi Singh","authorsUnit":"none","authorsBureau":"none","subBrand":"Good Morning America","provider":"Good Morning America","videoName":"Why Eddie Van Halen's son is backing Billie Eilish","mediaAssetTitle":"VAN_HALEN_EILISH_191203","videoId":67461300,"mediaOnPage":"video","legacySlug":"/culture/story/wolfgang-van-halen-defends-billie-eilish-knowing-van-67461300"},"taboola":{}},"request":{"headers":{},"httpVersion":"1.1","method":"GET","url":"/video/67461300","vary":{"host":"www.goodmorningamerica.com","cached":true,"path":"/video/67461300","forwarded-proto":"https","device":"desktop","userab":"0"}},"viewport":{"width":1260,"height":0},"user":{}};