Van Halen had suffered from several ailments
Eddie Van Halen’s immediate cause of death has been revealed as a stroke, according to the death certificate obtained by TMZ. The late guitarist died October 6th at the age of 65 with pneumonia, a blood disorder known as myelodysplastic syndrome, and lung cancer as underlying causes also contributing to his death.
Van Halen was cremated on October 28th, 22 days after his death, with his son Wolfgang receiving his ashes. The virtuoso guitarist’s final wishes were to be scattered off the coast of Malibu.
A short time after the news broke of Van Halen’s death, Wolfgang confirmed the news on social media.
“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,” Wolfgang shares.
His wife, Janie, Wolfgang, and Eddie’s brother and drummer Alex, were by his side when he passed.
Last month, Wolfgang shared his long-awaited solo debut single, “Distance,” in honor of his father, as Mammoth WVH. The song is described as an open letter to Eddie and was one of his father’s favorite songs with the video featuring home videos of father and son.
Wolfgang also confirmed that the rumored 2019 Van Halen tour was to see the return of original bassist Michael Anthony and all three VH singers — David Lee Roth, Sammy Hagar and Gary Cherone, but nothing materialized due to his father’s declining health at the time.
“I got him excited about it. And at a certain point it turned into what we joked as the Kitchen Sink tour. ‘Cause after he was okay with that arrangement, it was like, ‘Fuck, let’s get Dave and Hagar and even Cherone, and let’s just do a giant fucking awesome thing,'” he tells Howard Stern.
He also shared that fans shouldn’t hold their breath for vault releases from his father’s massive recording collection at his 5150 home studio.
“[There’s] a shit-ton of tapes that will take a very, very long time to go through. As disappointing as it may be for some to hear, it’s not the priority right now. I don’t know, I can’t put a timeline on it – not in the immediate future would we be going through it,” he explains.
