It was tragic news in 2020 when Eddie Van Halen died from cancer at age 65. It has been two years since his passing, and his ex-wife, Valerie Bertinelli, and son, Wolfgang, paid their respects to him in remembrance on Instagram. “2 years and not a single day has gone by where you weren’t on my mind,” Wolfgang wrote in tribute to his late father.
Valerie posted a photo of him with Wolfgang, simply putting two white hearts in the caption. She took the tribute further by reposting the picture and added one with herself and Eddie on her Instagram story.
Remembering Eddie
“I’m trying to do my best and hold it together, but it’s just not the same without you here, Pop. I love and miss you more than you could possibly imagine,” Wolfgang added in his caption alongside a selfie of him and his father. The Van Halen band co-founder had been struggling with cancer for some years until October 6th, 2020. His wife Janie, Valerie, and Wolfgang were with him at the time of his passing. The loss hit Wolfgang hard, and he confirmed the news of his father’s death at the time in a tweet.
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“I can’t believe I’m having to write this, but my father, Edward Lodewijk Van Halen, has lost his long and arduous battle with cancer this morning. He was the best father I could ask for. Every moment I’ve shared with him on and off stage was a gift,” he wrote. “My heart is broken and I don’t think I’ll ever recover from this loss. I love you so much, Pop.”
Moving On
Wolfgang told PEOPLE in a 2021 interview about how he is coping after his father’s passing, pointing out that he catches himself making moves similar to Eddie’s on stage and not on purpose. “It just happens,” he said. “I just go up there and be myself. There’s been a handful of moments, though, where I’ve done something, and then I realize, like, ‘Oh, Dad used to do that all the time on stage.’ And I realized maybe the way he moved or the way he smiled when he played something, I was like, ‘Oh, he would do that all the time.’ ”
“And it’s like, I couldn’t even control it. It just happens. It’s pretty funny.” he added. Wolfgang has been doing well, going on tours and keeping his father’s legendary music legacy alive.