Eugenia Van Halen: What happened to Eddie Van Halen’s mother, How did she die?

Eugenia Van Halen is the mother of Eddie Van Halen and his brother, Alex Van Halen. Eugenia Van Halen’s sons were American musicians and songwriters. Her son Eddie was the main songwriter and guitarist of the American rock band Van Halen, which he co-founded in 1972 with his brother, drummer Alex Van Halen, bassist Mark Stone, and singer David Lee Roth. Both sons were very successful in their music careers. Eugenia sadly died in 2005.

Eugenia Van Halen: Bio Summary

Who was Eddie Van Halen’s mother?

Eugenia Van Halen was born on 21 September 1914  in Rangkasbitung, Lebak, Bantam, Nederlandsch-Indië. She was the daughter of Frans van Beers and Eugenie Rygelo (Mafficioli del Castelletto) van Beers. Her father was of Italian descent while her mother was an Indonesian woman per Wikitree.

Eugenia Van Halen met and married  Dutch jazz pianist, clarinetist, and saxophonist Jan Van Halen in August 1950, and on March 4th, 1953, the couple re-emigrated to Holland on the ship “Sibajak,” settling in Amsterdam where they had their two children- Alex Van Helen and Eddie Van Helen. The family relocated to 59 Rozemarijnstraat in Nijmegen shortly after Eddie’s birth.

ALSO, READ; Eugenia Van Halen, Mother of Eddie Van Halen’s mother

The Van Halens once again relocated to New York on February 22nd, 1962, this time via boat across the Atlantic. They then embarked on a continent-spanning train voyage to ultimately settle in California, where they lived for two decades at 1881 Las Lunas Street in Pasadena. Here, the two Dutch-born Indo-American brothers began to create music history, and the Van Halen legend was formed.

Eugenia Van Halen’s sons, born in Amsterdam in 1953 and 1955, became California-based rock band Van Halen in 1974. Alex, born Alexander Arthur, plays the drums while his younger brother Eddie, born Edward Lodewijk, performs on guitar and is the main songwriter of the band.

Her Husband was also a musician

Eugenia’s husband, Jan Van Halen was a Dutch musician and the “patriarch” of the Van Halen family. He was the father of Eddie Van Halen and Alex Van Halen, and the grandfather of Wolfgang Van Halen. Jan had already built a music career when, at age 19, World War II erupted. He joined the Dutch Air Force and played marches for the troops until the country was occupied in 1940.

After the war, Eugenia Van Halen’s husband, Jan emigrated to the Dutch East Indies. He further pursued his career and met his future wife, the Dutch-Indonesian Eugenia van Beers. Eugenia became convinced that it would be better for the family to emigrate to the United States. Jan continued to play until a collaboration with his sons in 1982, which was to become his last performance. He died due to the effects of alcoholism in 1986.

What happened to Eddie Van Halen’s mother, How did she die?

Alex and Eddie Van Halen’s mother, Eugenia Van Halen passed away on 4 Aug 2005 at age 90 in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles County, California, USA. The cause of her death was not made public by the family.

Eugenia Van Halen’s Children

The siblings upon their release in 1978, the band’s album Van Halen reached number 19 on the Billboard pop music charts, becoming one of rock’s most commercially successful debuts. It was highly regarded as both a heavy metal and hard rock album.

By the early 1980s, Van Halen was one of the most successful rock acts of the time. The album 1984 went five times Platinum a year after its release. The lead single “Jump” became the band’s first and only number-one pop hit and garnered a Grammy nomination.

The band won the 1992 Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance with Vocals for the album For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge. In 2019, the band ranked 20th on the RIAA list of best-selling artists with 56 million album sales in the United States and more than 100 million worldwide.

Eugenia van Halen’s younger son, Eddie struggled with alcoholism and drug abuse. He began smoking and drinking at the age of 12, and he stated that he eventually needed alcohol to function. He entered rehabilitation in 2007 and later shared in an interview that he had been sober since 2008.

Eugenia van Halen’s Eddie died of a stroke at Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, California, on October 6, 2020, at the age of 65, surrounded by his wife, Janie; son, Wolfgang, bassist of Van Halen from 2006; ex-wife, Valerie Bertinelli; and brother, Alex, co-founder and drummer of Van Halen. His son, Wolfgang, confirmed his death on social media later that same day.

On November 16, 2020, Wolfgang announced on The Howard Stern Show that Van Halen would not continue as a band, saying “You can’t have Van Halen without Eddie Van Halen”.