MusicThe sad final moments of Eddie Van Halen, narrated by AlexGuitarist passed away in 2020, aged 65, due to the progression of cancer; drummer admits he still hasn’t gotten over the loss of his brother today at 6:28 pm

MusicThe sad final moments of Eddie Van Halen, narrated by AlexGuitarist passed away in 2020, aged 65, due to the progression of cancer; drummer admits he still hasn’t gotten over the loss of his brother today at 6:28 pm

Guitarist passed away in 2020, at the age of 65, due to the progression of cancer; drummer admits he still hasn’t gotten over the loss of his brother

The drummer Alex Van Halen does not hide how much the loss of his brother, the guitarist Eddie Van Halenit affected him. Since the death of his family member and bandmate at the age of 65, in 2020, he has remained a recluse — and has only returned to the spotlight now to release a memoir, Brothers, which practically serves as a brotherly love letter.

The final moments of Eddie’s life, which ended due to lung and brain cancer, and the subsequent suffering were also addressed by Alex, in an interview with Anderson Cooper’s podcast for CNN (via Blabbermouth). Initially, the drummer of Van Halen admitted that he continues to mourn his brother’s death — and that he doesn’t escape this feeling, as it doesn’t solve the problem.

Another point addressed has to do with the surprise of the death. Although Ed had been dealing with cancer for years, Alex guarantees that neither he nor other family members and people close to him thought this could happen.

“He always recovered. He had the most incredible DNA I’ve ever seen in anyone. He could do more and more drugs than anyone and still wake up the next day and play a show. I don’t think anyone really thought he was going to pass away. So when he passed away, it was really a shock.”

The drummer thinks that not even Eddie felt or knew he was at the end of his life. Not surprisingly, the two continued working on songs together and planning the following year — which, unfortunately, would never arrive, as the guitarist’s health deteriorated significantly, especially in recent months, due to the lockdowns caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

“It was difficult because his immune system was weak, so the last thing he needed was to get infected by anything. There was always a distance between us at his house. We had to watch him from outside, in the driveway, through the window.”

Eddie Van Halen (Photo: Rick Scuteri/AP)

Eddie Van Halen’s final moments

The last time Alex was able to play Eddie Van Halen or even sit next to him occurred a long time before his death, when the guitarist was taken to Switzerland for special treatment. The drummer says that his brother “I felt a lot of pain most of the time — physical, mental and emotional”. “He started to lose the function of his extremities. Everything got worse and every day there was another part of the body that was no longer working.”, adds the musician.

According to Alex Van Halen, Eddie underwent a procedure called Gamma Knife, an alternative to traditional brain surgery. According to the hospital website HCorradiosurgery “uses up to 201 high-precision ray beams to control both malignant and benign tumors as well as vascular and functional disorders in the brain, without damaging surrounding healthy tissue”. The drummer says:

“They cut out the cancer, which was successful, but in the process, it caused his brain to swell. So they put him on steroids. And even in a life or death situation, the decision was: ‘if two is good, twenty must be better’ — and he took handfuls of steroids and that made him the Superman temporarily. But we took him to Switzerland to cure him.”

Unfortunately, the disease progressed and, according to Alex, Eddie suffered a massive stroke. The drummer remembers:

“We were in the room with him when he actually took his last breath. We just sat there, everyone was in their own headspace. When he stopped breathing, I didn’t see or hear anything. There were no bells or angels. It just stopped. And then the room was empty. And then they turned off the equipment because he was on a ventilator. Because of Covid restrictions, they immediately took the body. That was it. We didn’t see him again. A very peaceful end to a busy life.”

Eddie and Alex Van Halen (Photo: Lynn Goldsmith/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images)

Alex Van Halen Reflections

As a big lesson from all of this, the drummer points out that the guitarist fought until the end and never gave up. On the other hand, he regretted that his brother did not have a “full life of 75 or 80 years”, blaming his notorious drug and alcohol abuse.

“Am I mad at him? Yes, there were times when I would cry out in jealousy, ‘Ed, what the hell is wrong with you? What are you doing? Ed, if you stop using all those damn drugs…’ [risos] ‘You can’t do this to your body and expect to live a full life.’ If he had stopped, he might still be here. My children no longer have an uncle. Your son has no father. I don’t have a brother.”

Philosophically, Alex concluded that Eddie Van Halen lived his entire life “in search of something”. Not even he knows what, since, musically, the two were complete to the point of “being able to play anything”. However, the drummer tries to overcome his grief by pointing out that, in the end, he has no control over it.

Source: Rollingstone

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