Valerie Bertinelli looked back on Eddie Van Halen overcoming his battles with substance abuse during a recent appearance on Rob Lowe’s podcast Literally! With Rob Lowe.
“We all have a toolbox that we go to when we need to suppress any kind of emotion that we don’t want to feel, any kind of pain that we don’t want to feel, and I know that Ed’s toolbox was filled with drugs and alcohol,” said Bertinelli. “It took a very, very long time for him to just not use it to deal with his pain.”
Bertinelli said she’s happy that Eddie not only overcame his addictions but made peace with those who he had a falling out with during his darkest period.
“Near the end of his life his pain was incredibly raw, and he was very vulnerable about it,” she said. “I’m grateful that he was able to make amends with so many people that he loved and knew that [he] didn’t treat as well as he would have liked to ‘cuz his heart….Oh my God, that man’s heart was just so kind and so sweet and he just wanted to do good and then that demon would come in that wouldn’t let him just be Ed. It was hard to watch.”
Listen to Bertinelli talk more about her relationship with Eddie and the rest of Van Halen, Eddie’s appearance on Michael Jackson’s “Beat It” and more beginning at the 18:50 mark of the episode below:
Watch “Inside Eddie Van Halen’s Relationship With Valerie Bertinelli”