The world is still mourning Eddie Van Halen. But no one moreso than his family.
After news broke of the rock legend’s death from cancer at age 65, tributes came pouring in from friends, fans, bandmates, and more loved ones. Valerie Bertinelli, who was married to the Van Halen co-founder for 20 years before they separated in 2001, shared her own touching post and has continued to memorialize her ex in the days following his passing.
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On Friday, the actress shared some truly special photos on her Instagram Story from early in their relationship — including one labeled “the night we met,” backstage at a 1980 concert in Shreveport, Louisiana.
Amazing!
Set to the Van Halen tune Cathedral, additional photos depicted some sweet moments from their courtship and early days of marriage.
They are so cute! Just babies!
One particularly adorable pic, captioned “Central Park NYC 1993,” showed the happy family with a 2-year-old Wolfgang Van Halen on a merry-go-round.
Wolfgang, now 29 years old, has been sharing some old photos of his dad on his own IG page this week, too. In one shot, the iconic guitarist appears to be reading his toddler a book; in others, an older Wolfgang bonds with his father over music. (Wolfgang served as the famous band’s bassist starting in 2007).
The musician shared the news of Eddie’s death on social media, writing:
“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 ever ask for. Every moment I’ve shared with him on and off stage was a gift.
My heart is broken and I don’t think I’ll ever fully recover from this loss.
I love you so much, Pop.”
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In a video (below) posted on Thursday, former Van Halen members Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony commented on the loss of their bandmate ahead of Hagar’s annual birthday concert.
Sammy said:
“For Mike and I, it was just like getting hit by a freaking Mack truck. It kind of took the wind out of the sails. … I just wanna say that I’m kind of devastated. Thank God we get to do it again tomorrow. I’ll tell ya, A Van Halen song never felt so hard to sing and play in my life. … What I felt playing especially a song like Right Now that is so timeless, that I felt, ‘Wow, thank God for this.’ You know what I mean? We’ll never play it with Eddie again, but thank God for this.”
Anthony agreed:
“We have the music, if nothing else.”
The singer concluded:
“The music will live forever. I’ll sing it as long as I live.”
We continue to keep Van Halen and his loved ones in our thoughts.
[Image via Adriana M. Barraza/WENN & Valerie Bertinelli/Instagram]
