Eddie Van Halen has been cremated, with his ashes given to his son, Wolfgang, Van Halen, according to a death certificate obtained by TMZ. The news comes two months after Eddie died following a battle with cancer on Oct. 6.
Eddie was cremated 22 days after his death, TMZ reports, adding that Wolfgang is expected to scatter his ashes in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Malibu, California.
In an interview with ET last month, Wolfgang said he was overwhelmed by the “monumental” amount of support from fans of his father, who was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer in 2017 and told he had six weeks to live. Treatment in Germany helped him live longer. Wolfgang said spending time with his dad during his final days was a blessing, but “really rough.”
“It just seems like he never got a break,” he explained. “Things just kept piling on and piling on. The second he would get a wind, it was one step forward, two steps back. But for the worst situation and experience of my life, it couldn’t have gone smoother. I was very happy I was able to spend every second with him that I could.”
Reflecting on his father’s incredible career, Wolfgang believes the iconic Van Halen guitarist’s legacy will be as “the Mozart of our generation.”
“I think the way we look back at people like Mozart and Beethoven — you put that amount of time ahead of us and I think people will still be looking back at him,” he said. “[The way he played] was amazing. It rubbed off on me because that’s all I wanted to do. That’s all I’m going to do — play music.”
“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,” he tweeted at the time. “He was the best father I could ask for. Every moment I’ve shared with him on and off stage was a gift.”
“My heart is broken and I don’t think I’ll ever recover from this loss,” he added. “I love you so much, Pop.”
Since Eddie’s death, Wolf has been open about grieving the loss of his father. Last month, he shared a black-and-white selfie on Instagram, opening up about the things he misses most about his dad.
“1 month. Not a second goes by where you’re not on my mind,” Wolf wrote. “I miss talking with you. I miss laughing with you. I miss listening to music with you. I miss making music with you. I just miss everything. I love you so much, Pop. It’s really hard being here without you.”
Wolf has also clarified that he will not be replacing his dad in Van Halen, which was most recently comprised of Eddie, Alex, Wolf, and vocalist David Lee Roth.
“You can’t have Van Halen without Eddie Van Halen,” Wolf told Howard Stern last month. “I’m not Dad. I’m not going to replace him.”
“I’ve spent my life making sure I’m not like him and that I’m my own person,” he added. “My dad would be pissed off. He’d be like, ‘What the f— are you doing? Go do your s—.”
