Eddie Van Halen’s son has revealed for the first time he carries the late rocker’s ashes in a necklace he never removes.
Eddie Van Halen’s son has revealed for the first time he carries the late rocker’s ashes in a necklace he never removes
The 33-year-old musician and guitarist – who performed alongside his father as the bassist for his Van Halen group from 2007 to 2020 – also said he has his late dad’s thumb prints embedded on a ring and the chain.
He said on his ‘Behind the Music’ show on Paramount+ about creating the jewellery after his dad’s throat cancer death in 2020 aged 65: "No matter what I do we're always together. I have his thumb print on this ring. I have his thumb print 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.”
Wolfgang added his dad – hailed as one of the world’s greatest guitarists – also suffered a brain tumour before his death.
He said about getting the news: “I was at a movie. I got a call from my dad when I was in the movie.
“I got a voicemail and I didn’t understand it. He was unlike himself.
“I immediately called Al (Eddie’s brother Alex Van Halen) and he tells me that dad fell off his bike while they were driving and they’re at a hospital at Agora Hills. Something was wrong with his brain.
“(Dad) couldn’t get through a sentence because something was wrong with his brain. He had a brain tumour.
“It’s not easy to see someone you look up to as a pillar of strength – and have to be that pillar of strength yourself.”
Eddie had a procedure to treat his tumour and was making progress, until a doctor called Wolfgang from a hospital and told him: “You should get over here.”
Wolfgang added about then spending his last moments with his father: “I held my dad’s hand. I held it up to my face until he left.
“I felt the warmth of his hand on my face until I couldn’t feel him anymore. “The last thing he ever said to me was, ‘I love you.’
“I just held his face and kissed him and then I said, ‘Maybe next time we’ll get it right.’
“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.”
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