It's been more than four years since Eddie Van Halen's death, and his son Wolfgang is still grappling with the loss.
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Wolfgang, the frontman of Mammoth WVH, shared his grief during an interview on Billy Corgan's podcast The Magnificent Others. Eddie, the legendary Van Halen guitarist, died from cancer in October 2020 at age 65.
"We're coming up on the four-year anniversary of his passing, and it's not any easier," Wolfgang, 33, said in the interview. "And I believe Zelda Williams, Robin's daughter, said it the best way that I could ever imagine, which is, even a truckload full of roses still weigh a ton."
When Corgan asked why the loss still felt so difficult, Wolfgang explained that there was much he couldn't share with his father.
"He never got to see what happened with Mammoth — he never got to see me get married. He never got to see me have kids eventually," he said. "Those are some tentpole moments that will always have a tinge of sadness no matter what."
Wolfgang married his longtime girlfriend, Andraia Allsop, in October 2023. The same year, his band released its second album. Mammoth WVH's debut album dropped in 2021. The song "Distance" garnered a Grammy nomination in 2022.
Wolfgang Remembers Dad
Losing his father, who was one of his biggest supporters, was a blow to Wolfgang's self-esteem.
"In the absence of my father, which is a heavy absence that I feel with me to this day, his pride in me was so large that his absence, there's just this kind of black hole sitting there," he said. "But I have my mother [Valerie Bertinelli], I have my wife... there are people that see through my insecurities and try and pull me out."
In January, Wolfgang marked what would have been Eddie's 70th birthday on Instagram, posting a humorous backstage photo of his dad.
"70. That's a lot of candles. Happy Birthday, Pop. Love and miss you more than you could ever know," he wrote.
Wolfgang had previously opened up to People in 2021 about how tough the loss has been.
"What really helps me keep going is my dad," he said. "If I just gave up and stopped and crawled in a hole, which I feel like doing every day, I know he'd be really pissed off at me."
