What Eddie Van Halen’s Son Wolfgang Will Remember Most About His Famous Father

To the outside world, Eddie Van Halen was a rock icon and guitar great, but to Wolfgang Van Halen, he was a loving dad.

“Extra’s” Billy Bush spoke with Wolfgang as he reflected on his famous father, who passed away last month from throat cancer.

When asked what comes to mind when he thinks of his father, Wolfgang said, “His smile, his laugh, and just how proud he was. I can still feel it.”

As for their close bond, Wolfgang described their relationship as “best friends.”

Wolfgang is paying tribute to his dad with his new song “Distance.” The music video is made up of touching home movies taken during Wolfgang’s childhood, when his dad was still married to Valerie Bertinelli. Wolfgang revealed that his mom is “doing about as well as you’d expect.”

Despite finalizing their divorce in 2007, Valerie and Eddie maintained a good relationship through the years. Wolfgang pointed out, “That’s one thing a child of divorce has to worry about, is whenever their parents are around each other. But for me, it was always a great occasion. I can still have my birthdays with both of them.”

Wolfgang continued, “They were just so wonderful because they were still friends. It just didn’t work out.”

When Billy asked, “You’re never ready for the loss of a parent… How prepared were you for this?” Wolfgang answered, “You’re always prepared in the back of your head a little bit, but I was really confident that he was gonna make it through.”

Eddie had been getting treatments in the U.S. and Europe, and Wolfgang maintained a positive outlook, saying, “Whatever they did do, it gave him three more years, and I couldn’t be more thankful for it.”

Eddie had been planning an epic Van Halen reunion, which Wolfgang believes would “absolutely” have happened if his father “got better.”

Wolfgang said he’ll always cherish voice mails from his dad, such as the one featured in the music video for the single “Distance” from his band Mammoth WVH. He shared, “Everybody’s always like… what was the special occasion for him to be speaking to you like that? And it’s like… there was no special occasion… He always wanted to make sure he let me know how proud he was of me and how much he loved me.”