While doctors pronounced Eddie Van Halen to be in remission, or free of cancer in 2002, the disease would return to spread and develop aggressively. In 2017, Van Halen learned that the cancer that had first taken root in his tongue had spread to his lungs and was categorized as stage IV, the most advanced form of the disease. “We got some good, livable years, but that was the beginning, I would say,” Van Halen’s son and bandmate Wolfgang Van Halen told The Telegraph. In 2019, the elder Van Halen was involved in a motorcycle accident, after which medical tests revealed that the cancer had spread into his brain. Over the next year, the cancer metastasized further, during which time he was hospitalized for intestinal problems and chemotherapy treatments. “So many different health issues stacked on top of each other. He just buckled under the weight of it all,” Wolfgang Van Halen said.
On October 6, 2020, Eddie Van Halen died at Santa Monica, California’s St. John’s Hospital. Brother Alex Van Halen, his son, and his current and former wives were all present. Van Halen was 65. The official cause of death, according to the death certificate: a stroke, with pneumonia, a blood disease, and cancer all listed as contributing factors. Van Halen was 65.
