Eddie Van Halen’s Family Ordered Pizza in His Hospital Room After He Died
I’ll be honest – when I saw this headline I cringed a little bit: Eddie Van Halen‘s Family Ordered Pizza in His Hospital Room After He Died.
Why did Valerie Order Pizza?
When Eddie Van Halen died, he was surrounded by his ex-wife Valerie Bertinelli, their son Wolfgang, Eddie’s brother Alex, and Alex’s two sons…and pizza. Valerie did an interview with People magazine and explained: “I forget who suggested it, but we were like, ‘Should we have pizza?’
Because he couldn’t eat, and the last thing Ed really wanted was pizza. “He loved pizza and burritos, so we had pizza in his hospital room. I hope people don’t think that’s morbid.”
Is it weird? Eddie Van Halen’s Family Ordered Pizza in His Hospital Room After He Died
I started thinking about this more and more on the way to work this morning (it’s very quiet at 4am). I lost my dad when I was 21 years old – he passed away from a heart attack the day before I was going to sea in the Navy (Submarine Service). I remember flying home for the funeral in my dress blues, thinking “what would dad want?”.
He used to joke about having the six people he hated carry him to the top of a hill in a glass top coffin. But I knew he wanted to buried at the Veterans Cemetery in Riverside, California (he was a Sergeant in Korea). We also made sure there was a version of “Danny Boy” playing at the viewing (Dad was VERY proud of his Irish heritage), and I put a lottery ticket in his shirt pocket (he liked gambling and playing the lottery).
Sorry if this is a bit of a downer – but I totally get why Valerie and the family ate pizza in the hospital room. It’s what Eddie would’ve wanted, and she did it right. So when you read the headline “Eddie Van Halen’s Family Ordered Pizza in His Hospital Room After He Died”…know why she did it and smile.
Why I Miss Eddie Van Halen More Than Certain Dead Relatives of Mine
Like everyone else in the world, I’ve experienced my share of loss. Also, like everyone else in the world, I’ve experienced my share of what I’ll refer to as “complicated loss.” For the purposes of this article, “complicated loss” is that murky situation when a relative or other prominent figure in your life dies, but your relationship/feelings about said figure aren’t very “sunshine and lollipops.”
It’s the type of situation that reminds me of one of my favorite one-liners from comedian John Mulaney.
Years before he became one of the biggest draws in the world of stand-up, Mulaney landed his first comedy special: 2009’s The Top Part. In that special, he explores his love of Law & Order, his favorite TV show. As he’s funnily touching on all of the show’s various quirks and tropes, he makes his way to how much he enjoys the character Detective Lennie Briscoe played by the late Jerry Orbach. He then hits the audience with this blunt, yet hilarious, line:
“And I miss Jerry Orbach more than certain dead relatives of mine.”
It’s a line that always makes me laugh without fail, even though I know it’s coming. It’s also a line that is seemingly top of mind for me whenever a notable death occurs in pop culture. Sadly, when part of your living comes from covering news in the world of classic rock, you have to deal with death and loss far more than you’d really like. Alas, much like Hyman Roth in The Godfather: Part II, this is the business I’ve chosen. As a result, I have developed the morbid coping mechanism when having to deal with covering a notable death by seeing whether or not I actually miss the dead celebrity more than certain dead relatives of mine.
I’ve covered the rock music world for a decade now. Many deaths have hit me very hard, but the one that hit me harder than most was Eddie Van Halen. For me, his death was the perfect storm of being a massive fan, having it happen while still in the thick of the coronavirus pandemic and also still mourning the loss of my own brother who died six months prior. Add in the fact his innovative force truly changed rock and roll, it makes sense (in my mind, at least) why I would miss Eddie Van Halen more than certain dead relatives of mine.
If you aren’t sold yet by my reasoning, here are some other reasons to support my possibly bonkers headline.
Jim O'Brien is the Host of "Big Jim's House" Morning Show at 94.7 WCSX in Detroit. Jim spent eight years in the U.S. Naval Submarine Service, has appeared on Shark Tank (Man Medals Season 5 Ep. 2), raised over two million dollars for local charities and is responsible for Glenn Frey Drive and Bob Seger Blvd in the Motor City. Jim's relationship with Classic Rock includes considering Bob Seger, Phil Collen from Def Leppard, Wally Palmer of the Romantics and many others good friends. Jim writes about ‘80s movies, cars, weird food trends and “as seen on TikTok” content.
