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

Feelings Drama

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00:00On October 6, 2020, the rock and roll world, and the rest of the world for that matter,

00:05lost a true legend when guitar icon Eddie Van Halen died after a battle with cancer.

00:11According to TMZ, Eddie Van Halen's closest family members were with him at St. John's

00:15Hospital in Santa Monica, including his son Wolfgang Van Halen, his brother Alex Van Halen,

00:21his ex-wife Valerie Bertinelli, and his wife Janie Leshefsky Van Halen.

00:25Although Eddie Van Halen and his first wife Valerie Bertinelli formed one of the most

00:29famous and high-profile couples in rock and roll history, his relationship with his second

00:34wife Janie was a huge part of the rock star's life.

00:37According to People, Eddie proposed to Janie in 2008 at Tiffany's while they were on vacation

00:42in Hawaii.

00:43The two married the following year at a casual ceremony at home.

00:47The groom wore flip-flops, and the bride walked down the aisle to a string quartet's rendition

00:51of When It's Love, while the meal at the reception included corn dogs.

00:55Prior to meeting Eddie Van Halen, Janie Leshefsky worked as an actress and stuntwoman, getting

01:00credits in Hollywood films like Spider-Man 2.

01:03She's also a dancer, and currently works as a wrestling manager for her dance partner.

01:07My schedule is so slammed.

01:10Janie runs a public relations firm called High Profile Media, which is how she met Eddie

01:15Van Halen.

01:16While working on the publicity campaign for an adult film called Sacred Sin, she was introduced

01:21to Eddie, who wrote two songs for the film's soundtrack.

01:24In 2006, she became Eddie's PR rep, telling AVN at the time,

01:29I am so excited to be given the opportunity to work with such a legendary musical force

01:34and look forward to going on the road this summer.

01:37Obviously, this is a dream come true in many capacities.

01:40Though the relationship was professional at the start, within a year they were dating,

01:44and they married shortly after Eddie Van Halen's divorce from Bertinelli was finalized.

01:49Tragically, the loss of Eddie Van Halen was just one of two major personal blows that Janie

01:54suffered in 2020.

01:55Though she has usually kept her life private, in June 2020, Janie took to Instagram to announce

02:01the death of her brother, Tom Leshefsky, posting a photo of the two of them as adults, and another

02:06of them as children, along with a broken heart emoji.

02:08A week later, she posted another photo of her late brother, writing,

02:12Thank you to each and every one of you for all the kind and lovely words during this very

02:17sad, confusing, and emotional time.

02:21If there's any small comfort for Janie during this tragic time, it's that she had some support

02:25from a perhaps unexpected source, as Bertinelli was also at Eddie Van Halen's bedside when

02:30he passed.

02:31But perhaps this shouldn't be any surprise, as Bertinelli and Eddie Van Halen apparently remained

02:36close friends over the years, despite their divorce, with Bertinelli reportedly visiting

02:40Eddie Van Halen regularly during his cancer treatments to offer support.

02:44Bertinelli even attended Janie and Eddie's wedding, while Eddie was himself in the crowd

02:49for Bertinelli's second wedding to financial planner Tom Vitale.

02:52That union came in 2011, three years after Bertinelli's tell-all memoir, Losing It and Gaining

02:58My Life Back One Pound at a Time, revealed that she and Eddie had divorced because of infidelity

03:03and addiction issues on both sides, as well as a growing distance between them as their

03:08careers took them in opposite directions.

03:11She also wanted to make sure that she was giving their son Wolfgang the family environment

03:15he deserved.

03:16In 2010, Vitale told AARP that when he met Bertinelli, it was that family connection that

03:23was immediately evident.

03:24"'We just understood each other completely.

03:26My family is her family.

03:28It wasn't love at first sight.

03:30It was family at first sight.'"

03:32It's very clear, though, that regardless of whether they were married or divorced, Bertinelli

03:37and Van Halen still considered each other to be family.

03:41And hopefully, in these tragic times, Janie, Bertinelli, and Wolfgang Van Halen can find

03:46some support in each other, and in the extended family of music fans that mourn with them.

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