“He had a very small life. It’s just that people projected a lot onto him”: Eddie Van Halen’s ex-wife claims he was a “good person” in spite of his addiction issues
While Eddie Van Halen firmly cemented his legend status over the course of his career with Van Halen, his ex-wife Valerie Bertinelli claims he actually “led a very small life”.
In a new appearance on the Drew Barrymore show [via MSN], Bertinelli makes a brief reflection on her relationship with the late guitarist.
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She jokes that she was married to a “bad boy” for a while, to which host Drew Barrymore responds: “Legend! I mean, Eddie Van Halen… He had such a big life. He was so loved.”
“He actually didn’t,” Bertinelli replies. “He had a very small life. It’s just that people projected a lot onto him because of his talent. But he really led a very small life.”
When Ross Matthews asks Bertinelli what it was like being with a “rock and roll bad boy”, she replies: “I gotta say I don’t understand what makes him a bad boy, because he wasn’t. He was a drug addict and alcoholic but he wasn’t a bad boy.”
Valerie Bertinelli was married to Eddie Van Halen for 26 years from 1981 to 2007, with whom she shares a son, 33-year-old Mammoth WVH mastermind Wolfgang Van Halen.
She describes Eddie as a “good person” who was “unstable” and “never dealt with his childhood trauma”.
“But he’s Wolfie’s dad, so he gave me the greatest gift I could ever, ever want – is to be a mother.”
The post “He had a very small life. It’s just that people projected a lot onto him”: Eddie Van Halen’s ex-wife claims he was a “good person” in spite of his addiction issues appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
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