Wolfgang Van Halen: The Tragic Story Of Valerie Bertinelli's Son

This article includes mentions of addiction.

He might originally have been known for his parents' achievements, but these days Wolfgang Van Halen is an icon in his own right. He's a multi-instrumentalist, Grammy-nominated artist, and everything you hear on his albums he did himself. The only time he plays with a band is when he takes to the stage as Mammoth WVH. "This is just something for me. It's a sacred experience for me. It's my project, and an artistic outlet for me and my mental wellbeing," he once told Overdrive. The stage is still the place Wolfgang feels closest to his father, the iconic Edward "Eddie" Van Halen. "There's been a handful of moments though, where I've done something, and then I realize like, 'Oh sh*t, dad used to do that all the time on stage," he told People. "[My dad is] the reason why I do what I do. I wouldn't exist if it wasn't for him."

In between making music and touring, Wolfgang has managed to wed the love of his life, Andraia Allsop, in 2023. She described their small wedding, which was held at their Los Angeles home and only had 90 guests in attendance, as entering the light at the end of a very dark tunnel. "The past few years, not only with the world, but also with personal tragedies, haven't been the easiest," she admitted. Wolfgang knows a thing or two about personal tragedies, some of which started when he was just a kid playing on stage with his dad.

Wolfgang Van Halen's father had a traumatic childhood, and it's something he didn't talk about much. Thanks to his close relationship with his wife, Valerie Bertinelli, Eddie Van Halen managed to share some of his childhood pain, however, Bertinelli was reluctant to share it with the cameras while filming an episode of "Behind the Music". Bertinelli said she didn't want to share too much because she wasn't sure how much of it her ex-husband chose to share publicly. 

"It was a very volatile household ... That he survived it and that Al [his brother] survived it is kind of amazing," she said (via VHND). It's thought Eddie's traumatic past is what led to his problems with addiction. When Wolfgang was around 13 years old, his father was battling alcoholism. Wolfgang explained on "Behind the Music" that his father had been in and out of rehab multiple times at that point. He was taking pills prescribed to him by these facilities, but it didn't work the way it was supposed to. Soon, he started drinking again.

Wolfgang watched his father go down the deep end when he started mixing medication with alcohol, explaining that, eventually, he could no longer see his father when he looked in Eddie's eyes. "It was like there was nothing there," he recalled. "It's like the pupils were black and there was nothing behind it. And that's where it got really scary."

Eddie Van Halen's addiction struggles is one of the reasons the musician and Valerie Bertinelli got divorced. On "Behind the Music," Eddie's friends and family recalled how hard his addiction was on his marriage, and eventually, it crumbled under the pressure. One of Eddie's closest friends, Matt Bruck, made an appearance in the episode, recalling what a hard time Eddie had when he was going through his divorce from Bertinelli. "I never felt that Ed was ever the same after Val and he broke up," he said. "Part of addiction was coping with that loss. Yeah, it was a dark time."

Wolfgang Van Halen continued to spend time with his father after the divorce. The two had frequent jam sessions and spent the summer together that year, but it had been very difficult for their family. "Mom got a place, dad had his place. That only made dad worse," Wolfgang said. "As the divorce was more and more real, that made his sh*t more and more real, and darker." Wolfgang added that his father's destructive behavior reached new heights during this time, explaining that few people know just how terrible things got after the divorce. He recalled that his father's friend Bruck was really the only person who knew how far Eddie fell after his marriage ended.

After his parents' divorce, Wolfgang Van Halen felt responsible for his dad. He was well aware of Eddie Van Halen's struggle with addiction, and he felt responsible for looking after his father. When Eddie's struggle with addiction intensified after his divorce, Wolfgang eventually confronted his father and told him that he had to choose between him and the alcohol and drugs. "Eventually, after however long, I must have gotten through to him," Wolfgang said on "Behind the Music."

Eddie rejoined his band, Van Halen, after rehab, and Wolfgang kept a close eye on him during their 2007 tour. "With me being involved in the first place, it was more for his comfort and his stability. If anything, I was the one who was the patriarch in the situation to a certain extent," Wolfgang told Screamer Magazine. He and his father's relationship evolved during this time, with Wolfgang saying they became like two best friends.

Wolfgang replaced Eddie's former bandmate Michael Anthony on the tour, which left many old-time fans very unhappy. "I understand that. It's not easy to be the second guy," Wolfgang admitted on "Behind the Music." "But that wasn't my decision. It wasn't my problem. My problem was making sure my dad was alive." Having Wolfgang in the band did lead to Eddie's permanent recovery, and he managed to stay sober until his death in 2020.

Something you mightn't know about Wolfgang Van Halen is that he was forced to grow up fast. This was largely thanks to his father's addiction and feeling like he was responsible for keeping him sober. "I had to mature very quickly in order to handle everything," he told Rolling Stone. While Eddie Van Halen managed to stay clean after Wolfgang convinced him to go to rehab ahead of Van Halen's 2007 tour, he was also battling cancer behind the scenes.

In 2017, Eddie was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer, and in 2019, he had a stroke. "As time went on, sh*t kept stacking up and stacking up. It just never let up," Wolfgang said during an interview on "The Howard Stern Show" (via UCR). Watching as his father's health got progressively worse without being able to do anything about it was taxing on Wolfgang. It was during this time Wolfgang wrote a heart-wrenching musical tribute to his father titled "Distance," which he played for him. "We cried. It was hard to sing it and play it through," Wolfgang admitted. "I was imagining what my life would be like without him and how terribly I'd miss him," he added.

Wolfgang eventually put his career on hold to take care of his father. "I put everything on hold with my album to spend every waking second with my dad," he told People, adding that he had no regrets.

In 2020, Eddie Van Halen lost his battle with cancer. Wolfgang Van Halen spoke candidly about his father's last days on "Behind the Music." He stubbornly kept hoping that his father would recover, despite the odds being stacked against him. "Maybe I was naive and not seeing the writing on the wall, but I was there every day helping him," he said. "Sometimes it was really good. It really did seem like we were going to get through it and it was going to be OK." But then a devastating phone call came.

Wolfgang woke in the middle of the night when his father's doctor called to let him know to come to the hospital because Eddie had another stroke. "I hung up and I ran," Wolfgang recalled. His mother, Valerie Bertinelli, previously revealed how she said goodbye to Eddie, and in the episode Wolfgang finally opened up about his final moments with his dad. "I held my dad's hand. I held it up to my face ... until ... he left. Just felt the warmth of his hand on my face until I couldn't feel him anymore."

In the aftermath of his father's death, Wolfgang continued to keep Eddie's legacy alive. While attending the 2022 Grammy Awards, he told People that he still makes music for his dad. "I just do the best I can and make sure I try to make him proud in everything I do," he said.

When Eddie Van Halen died, his family knew it would be global news, but when it came to announcing his death publicly, they didn't expect the tabloids to beat them to the punch. This almost happened, and it greatly upset Wolfgang Van Halen, who wanted to announce his father's death in his own time and on his own terms. Moments after he said goodbye to his dad for the last time, Eddie's manager, Irving Azoff, called to inform him that TMZ already knew about Eddie's death. Someone at the hospital had tipped them off, and the story was set to hit the internet any moment. Wolfgang was understandably upset. The last thing he wanted was for his father's death to be announced by the likes of TMZ.

"I'm in the [hospital] room, and I'm literally sobbing, and I have to go through my phone to find a picture of him," he told Spin. "Hitting post [on Instagram] was one of the most painful things. It made it real." Wolfgang kept the announcement short, telling the world that Eddie had finally lost his cancer battle. "He was the best father I could ever ask for. Every moment I've shared with him on and off stage was a gift," he tweeted. "My heart is broken and I don't think I'll ever fully recover from this loss. I love you so much, Pop."

When you're the son of the legendary Eddie Van Halen and Valerie Bertinelli, you've got quite the legacy to live up to, and Wolfgang Van Halen felt this pressure for most of his life. He had a fairly happy childhood, but everyone knew who his parents were, and that unnerved him. "I think just existing, you know? Being given a life I didn't ask for, being born into a family I didn't choose, is the kind of thing that people tend to hold against children of famous people," he told Screamer Magazine. "I think people can have unfair expectations about someone that comes from someone that they've seen before. I'm just trying to do my own thing and have a good time doing it."

Wolfgang wasn't just putting the pressure on himself — a fan of his father's attacked him on social media for taking advantage of his father's last name to further his career. Wolfgang was puzzled, telling the fan on X, formerly Twitter, that Van Halen "is literally my f***ing name." Despite the vitriol he has to deal with in the social media sphere, Wolfgang has managed to let the hate and unfair criticism slide off his back instead of allowing it to consume him. If you ask him whether his legendary father has helped his career at all, he'll tell you that having such a famous dad has been more trouble than it's worth.

When you're as famous as Wolfgang Van Halen, you're bound to be the subject of some disturbing conspiracy theories, and there are some theorists out there who are convinced that Wolfgang died as a kid and that someone is impersonating him.

"This is getting ridiculous," the person wrote. "I know for a fact that Wolfgang Van Halen died as a toddler. But now they are showing him as grown and alive." They went on to claim that Wolfgang fell to his death from a balcony. Of course, some of these wild theories have made their way onto the musician's radar, and he handled it in a similar fashion to the trolls on the internet.

Wolfgang took to Instagram in 2024 to post the ludicrous theory on his feed, captioning it, "Chat am I alive?" The comments provided plenty of entertainment, with one fan writing, "It's official dude ... Sorry you got the news late," while another added, "You know you're famous when you're 'dead' when you're absolutely not." Another quipped, "Well, you look GREAT for a reanimated cadaver, love that for you." Wolfgang added his own comment, encouraging fans to make some good fun of the conspiracy theory, adding, "We know they're confusing me for Clapton's kid."

If you or anyone you know needs help with addiction issues, help is available. Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).