Eddie Van Halen's Final Words Revealed

Eddie Van Halen, one of the greatest — if not the greatest — rock guitarists of all time, died on October 6, 2020, as Britannica reports. The Netherlands-born musician, who was 65 years old at the time of his death, had lived the rock 'n' roll lifestyle for decades before his death. He dealt with substance abuse issues as well as a fondness for smoking tobacco, and his choices almost certainly played a role in his death at a comparatively early age. According to Guitar World, his official cause of death was listed as a stroke, but he also had underlying health issues, including pneumonia, the bone marrow disorder myelodysplastic syndrome, lung cancer, and skin cancer.

Van Halen left behind an immeasurable legacy in the worlds of rock music broadly, and guitar playing specifically. As NPR News notes, Van Halen's lengthy, classically-inspired arpeggios, his "tapping" method of extracting notes from the strings, and other innovations inspired generations of rock guitarists.

While he lived, Eddie Van Halen's personal life was sometimes as much as part of the narrative surrounding him as was his music. He famously married actress Valerie Bertinelli, with whom he fathered a child, Wolfgang Van Halen. The relationship was a tumultuous one, likely because of substance abuse issues, which Bertinelli documented in her book, "Losing It." Though their relationship had ended decades before his death, it seems that the friendship between the two endured, even to Eddie's death. As People reported, Bertinelli wrote that she, Wolfgang, and Eddie Van Halen's second wife, Janie Liszewski, were all in the hospital with him every day as his life came to an end.

As he drew his last breaths, Van Halen made sure to let his loved ones know his true feelings. As Bertinelli documented, his last words were simple and profound. "'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," Bertinelli noted.