The Untold Truth Of Eddie Van Halen's Wife, Janie Liszewski

On Oct. 6, 2020, the rock and roll world — and the rest of the world, for that matter — lost a true legend when guitar icon Eddie Van Halen died after a battle with cancer. He was 65. According to TMZ, Eddie Van Halen's closest family members were with him at St. John's Hospital in Santa Monica, including his son Wolfgang Van Halen, his brother Alex Van Halen, his ex-wife Valerie Bertinelli, and his wife Janie Liszewski Van Halen. Though Eddie Van Halen and his first wife Valerie Bertinelli formed one of the most famous and high profile couples in rock and roll history, his relationship with second wife Janie a huge part of the rock star's life. According to People, Eddie proposed to Janie in 2008 at Tiffany's while they were on vacation in Hawaii. The two married the following year at a casual ceremony at home: the groom wore flip-flops and the bride walked down the aisle to a string quartet's rendition of "When It's Love," while the meal at the reception included corn dogs. Prior to meeting Eddie Van Halen, Janie Liszewski worked as an actress and stuntwoman, getting credits in Hollywood films as Spider-Man 2. She's also a dancer, and currently works as a wrestling manager for her dance partner. Janie also runs a public relations firm called High Profile Media, which is how she met Eddie Van Halen. While working on the publicity campaign for an adult film called Sacred Sin, she was introduced to Eddie, who wrote two songs for the film's soundtrack. In 2006, she became Eddie's pr rep, telling AVN at the time "I am so excited to be given the opportunity to work with such a legendary musical force and look forward to going on the road this summer. Obviously this is a dream come true in many capacities." Though the relationship was professional at the start, within a year they were dating, and they married shortly after Eddie Van Halen's divorce from Bertinelli was finalized. Tragically, the loss of Eddie Van Halen was just one of two major personal blows that Janie suffered in 2020. Though she has usually kept her life private, in June 2020 Janie took to Instagram to announce the death of her brother, Tom Liszewski, posting a photo of the two of them as adults and another of them as children along with a broken heart emoji. A week later, she posted another photo of her late brother, writing, "Thank you to each and every one of you for all the kind and lovely words during this very sad, confusing and emotional time." If there's any small comfort for Janie during this tragic time, it's that she had some support from a perhaps unexpected source, as Bertinelli was also at Eddie Van Halen's bedside when he passed. But perhaps this shouldn't be any surprise, as Bertinelli and Eddie Van Halen apparently remained close friends over the years despite their divorce, with Bertinelli reportedly visiting Eddie Van Halen regularly during his cancer treatments to offer support. Bertinelli even attended Janie and Eddie's wedding, while Eddie was himself in the crowd for Bertinelli's second wedding, to financial planner Tom Vitale. That union came in 2011, three years after Bertinelli's tell-all memoir Losing It: And Gaining My Life Back One Pound at a Time revealed that she and Eddie had divorced because of infidelity and addiction issues on both sides, as well as a growing distance between them as their careers took them in opposite directions. She also wanted to make sure that she was giving their son, Wolfgang, the family environment he deserved. In 2010, Vitale told AARP that when he met Bertinelli, it was that family connection that was immediately evident. "We just understood each other completely. My family is her family. It wasn't love at first sight; it was family at first sight." It's very clear, though, that regardless of whether they were married or divorced, Bertinelli and Van Halen still considered each other to be family. And hopefully, in these tragic times, Janie, Bertinelli Bertinelli, and Wolfgang Van Halen can find some support in each other — and in the extended family of music fans that mourn with them. #EddieVanHalen #JanieLiszewski