In October 2020, rock star Eddie Van Halen passed away after a long battle with throat
cancer.
His son, Wolfgang, whose mother is actress Valerie Bertinelli, survived him.
Valerie and Eddie were married for over two decades, though eventually divorced and found
other spouses.
Still, they maintained a friendship up until Eddie's death, thanks in no small part to
their shared son.
Join Facts Verse as we see what Valerie Bertinelli just revealed about Eddie Van Halen's emotional
last words.
Recently, actress Valerie Bertinelli released a memoir by Enough Already: Learning to Love
the Way I Am Today.
Amongst numerous other things, the memoir has revealed Valerie’s personal account
of former husband Eddie Van Halen’s final days.
The most emotionally moving part of this account comes with the simple final words that the
rock star supposedly uttered to Valerie and their son.
According to Valerie, the very last words that rock star and former husband Eddie Van
Halen uttered to her and son Wolfgang were "I love you".
Given that Valerie and Eddie had been divorced for over a decade, and separated for nearly
two, these words carried some unique weight.
However, it was always apparent that Valerie and Eddie still loved each other after their
2001 separation and subsequent 2007 divorce, even if they moved on with other spouses.
Valerie Bertinelli is now 61, and is a long way from being the person that she was while
performing on One Day at a Time.
Though her and Eddie were married for many years and shared a son, their marriage wasn’t
the smoothest.
Still, Valerie claims that she never grew to hate her former husband, even during their
darkest periods.
One of the biggest things that drew the two apart was Eddie’s substance abuse issues.
Though Valerie claims that she sincerely grew to hate the substances that Eddie was abusing,
she never grew to hate the man himself.
When Valerie Bertinelli and Eddie Van Halen first got together, the odd celebrity pairing
shocked many in their separate demographics.
Valerie was seen as a girl-next-door type thanks to her tenure on One Day at a Time.
Meanwhile, Eddie was the epitome of the idyllic rock star.
Still, the two ended up bonding, with them each finding that they had more in common
with the other than they initially thought.
Despite the fact that Valerie and Eddie divorced and went on to marry other people, they still
remained close.
They got even closer during the final days of Eddie’s life, as it became apparent that
he was losing his battle with throat cancer.
Valerie has even expressed the possibility that, had Eddie not died, they may have eventually
gotten back together.
However, she has also shared that her feelings for Eddie towards the end were more friendly
than sexual.
They certainly bonded over their son, with Wolfgang maintaining a positive relationship
with his father up until his death and still maintaining a positive relationship with his
mother now.
Wolfgang was well into adulthood at the time of his father’s death, and had actually
played with his father professionally!
Wolfgang served as a touring musician with his father’s band after his parents’ divorce.
It was Wolfgang who ended up announcing his father’s death, and Valerie was quick to
take to social media with a response.
Memorably, Valerie’s first Tweet after the announcement of her former husband’s death
was a simple sequence of broken heart emojis.
According to Valerie Bertinelli, she had never been into Eddie Van Halen’s music at the
time that she met him.
She was invited to go to a Van Halen concert, and agreed upon picking up a cassette and
seeing Eddie on the cover.
Valerie thought that the musician was cute, and she used her celebrity status to ensure
a personal meeting with the legendary guitarist.
The sparks apparently flew, with each of the stars bringing out a unique side of the other.
Soon after their initial meeting, the two were making plans for marriage.
Valerie and Eddie ended up getting married in 1981, At the time of their wedding ceremony,
it seems that both of the stars were equally into partying.
The two shared lines of cocaine while writing their vows, and Valerie was said to have had
to help hold Eddie's hair while he puked on the morning of their wedding date.
Though Valerie and Eddie’s marriage would go on to last for well over two decades and
yield a child, it was a rocky road the whole way through.
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When Valerie Bertinelli and Eddie Van Halen first met backstage at a Van Halen concert
at Valerie’s request, the two were apparently very shy around one another.
Despite Eddie’s image as a rock star, it seems that Valerie brought something out in
him that many others couldn't.
The television star brought the legendary guitarist to his knees, and it wasn't long
before he was begging her to tie the knot with him.
The two eventually did so, in 1981.
In addition to their rampant partying, one thing that nearly ruined Valerie and Eddie’s
plans to get married was that a former groupie had accused Eddie of being the father of her
child.
Thankfully, a paternity test went on to prove that this wasn’t the case, and the date
was set!
The two would go on to tie the knot just as planned, despite likely not being sober during
the occasion.
Valerie has expressed retrospectively that she likely wasn't in the right state of mind
to be deciding to marry anyone.
Though Valerie would later leave partying behind, the tendency to overindulge in mind-altering
substances plagued Eddie for his whole life.
Throughout much of the early days of Valerie and Eddie’s marriage, the two had very busy
schedules that didn’t allow them to spend much time together.
This made it hard for them to find their footing in the new relationship, but it also made
it hard for problems to develop.
The time that the two did spend together was largely spent partying, and the two didn’t
have much occasion or reason to pick fights with one another early in their marriage.
However, a schism arose alongside the birth of Wolfgang.
During the early days of Valerie and Eddie’s marriage, Eddie was touring most of the time
and Valerie was still working on One Day at a Time.
One Day at a Time had come to an end before Wolfgang was born.
Wolfgang was born in 1991, which was a decade after his parents had tied the knot.
Though Valerie had moved beyond her substance abuse at that point, Eddie hadn’t.
It was Valerie’s goal upon her son’s birth to be there for him, which meant working less
and staying away from illicit substances.
This caused a divide between her and her husband, who found the prospect of giving up his rock
star lifestyle too tall of an order.
Eddie Van Halen's biggest weaknesses were cocaine and alcohol.
In the 1990s, the two spent much more time in the same living quarters than they did
during the 1980s, and this exacerbated the inherent issues of their relationship.
Eventually, things soured, and the two officially separated in 2001.
It wouldn't be until 2007 that the two would finalize their divorce, after which point
they both went on to marry other people.
According to Valerie, the reason that her and Eddie decided to separate was that they
didn’t want Wolfgang to grow up seeing his parents fighting.
Valerie and Eddie felt that growing up with parents that lived in separate households
was going to be healthier for Wolfgang than growing in one household with parents that
were constantly fighting.
It appears as if the two made the right decision, as not only has Wolfgang turned out fairly
healthy and properly adjusted, but Valerie and Eddie also arguably had a stronger relationship
after their separation and subsequent divorce than before it.
Valerie and Eddie began to respect and care for each other even more after their separation,
but in a different way.
The pair remained friends until Eddie’s death over a decade later.
Not only did Valerie and Eddie remain incredibly friendly after their 2001 separation and 2007
divorce, but they also attended each other’s subsequent weddings to other people!
Eddie was the first to remarry after divorcing from Valerie, with him marrying Janie Lszewski
in 2009.
Wolfgang served as his father’s best man during the ceremony, while Valerie watched
from the audience.
Two years later, Valerie married Tom Vitale in 2011.
Eddie was invited to the ceremony, and his new wife was, as well!
Over these years, the main thing that kept Valerie and Eddie together as friends was
Wolfgang, though the two would become a little bit closer once again as Eddie was succumbing
to cancer.
Valerie Bertinelli spent a lot time visiting her former husband as he was being treated
for cancer during the last year or so of his life.
She was reportedly always on hand to groom the dying rock star and make sure his hair
still looked good, and also always did her best to make sure that he was comfortable.
With care like that, it’s no wonder that the rock star’s final words to her were
“I love you”!
Although Valerie Bertinelli and Eddie Van Halen couldn't make things work throughout
their long marriage, they ended up becoming better friends later on in life.
Now it's time to hear from you: did you know that Valerie Bertinelli and former husband
Eddie Van Halen remained good friends until the latter's death, or did you think that
they hated each other after their 2001 separation and 2007 divorce?
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