During a recent episode of Behind the Music, Wolfgang Van Halen shared a private item including his late father Eddie Van Halen’s ashes.
After talking about his final moments with Eddie and how his absence affects him, the musician said:
“No matter what I do we’re always together. I have his thumbprint on this ring. I have his thumbprint on this necklace. His ashes are in here. I haven’t told anybody that. He’s hanging on my neck. Every show I’ve ever played — he’s with me all the time no matter what. So even if I don’t feel him spiritually I can get away with saying he’s literally here with me at all times.”
Wolf Can’t Recover From His Father’s Passing
Wolf received a call from his dad while at a movie and learned that Eddie had a diagnosis of a brain tumor. Despite initial progress, Eddie suffered a stroke and eventually passed away. The singer reflected on coping with his father’s absence in daily life:
“That morning was one of the worst mornings of my life. There’s a noticeable absence of love in my life — which is such a selfish thing to say because I have so many wonderful people in my life. But that’s how much he loved me. The absence of that is like a black hole in my body and I could never recover. I could only ignore those feelings.”
Wolf Also Keeps Eddie’s Gear
In a March interview with Chris Shiflett, Van Halen also talked about his dad’s gear and using his special guitar for recording. When asked where he stored the equipment, he said they were in a super safe place:
“They’re very much locked down and safe in a way that if the world ended, they would still be okay. So we pulled them out, got them all set up, and got it ready to go.”
Eddie passed away due to a stroke in Santa Monica, California in October 2020. Following his death, Wolfgang paid tribute to his late father with the song, ‘Distance.’ He wrote the song while Eddie was battling cancer. It debuted at number 1 on the Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Airplay Chart.
