Eddie Van Halen’s first wife opens up about the guitar legend’s death and reveals his last words

Van Halen guitarist Eddie Van Halen, who once revolutionised guitar playing, passed away in October 2020, after losing a long battle with cancer.

Now Eddie’s first wife, Valerie Bertinelli, has opened up about her ex-husband’s death. Bertinelli reveals in her book “Enough Already: Learning To Love The Way I Am Today”, due out on 18 January, that she and the couple’s son Wolfgang were present in hospital when Eddie passed away. Eddie’s second wife Janie Liszewski and brother Alex Van Halen were also present.

People Magazine published an extract from Bertinelli’s forthcoming book. According to Bertinelli, Eddie’s death “happened in slow motion” and that Wolfgang told him on the phone that the guitarist’s breathing had changed and that he should go to hospital.

“‘I love you’ are the last words Ed says to Wolfie and me, and they are the last words we say to him before he stops breathing,” she wrote.

The book then tells us that after the silence, those present began to tell stories about the guitar legend, and everyone laughed instead of crying.

“Suddenly, all of us are cracking up. We laugh — and it is so much better than crying.”