Jun 292009

Guitar virtuoso Eddie Van Halen is no longer a solo: Saturday night he married Janie Liszewski, his girlfriend of three years.

The ceremony took place in the garden of his seven-acre estate in the hills above Studio City, Calif., starting at 7 p.m., when Liszewski walked down the aisle to Van Halen’s “When It’s Love,” performed by the Sonus Quartet.

The 54-year-old groom’s 18-year-old son, Wolfgang, served as best man, while brother Alex Van Halen, an ordained minister, officiated at the 20-minute, nondenominational service. Among the 100 guests: Van Halen’s ex-wife, Valerie Bertinelli (they divorced in 2006, after 25 years of marriage.)

The bride, 39, was given away by her mother under the watchful eye of Kano, the 15-year-old Pomeranian who walked Liszewski down the aisle. This was her first marriage and Van Halen’s second.

Liszewski wore a champagne and pink custom-designed Hanna Hartnell gown with matching Bulgari earrings and bracelet. Her sister, Jennifer, served as maid of honor. Eddie and Wolfie dressed casually in Sy Devore cotton pants, un-tucked buttoned-down shirts and flip-flop sandals – as did the bride and wedding attendants.

The couple wrote their vows and designed the rings – Janie’s, a platinum band beside a nearly three-carat diamond engagement ring; Ed’s, a gold band with yellow diamonds.

Non-Alcoholic Bar
At 7:30 guests were served appetizers such as mini hamburgers and corn dogs, roasted garlic-parmesan, French fries, and an assortment of nonalcoholic beverages from the lemonade bar. Later on, diners were treated to organic fare such as heirloom tomatoes, baby arugula salad, Niman Ranch Filet Mignon, orange and rosemary glazed grilled chicken, Mojito-marinated prawns and grilled vegetables.

The simple, elegant wedding cake was layered with white chocolate, strawberries, whipped cream and decorated with white hydrangeas. The bride and groom toasted with non-alcoholic French Sparkling Apple Cider and Sparkling Pear Juice honoring Eddie’s year and a half of sobriety.

The evening’s entertainment ranged from an aerial tissue performance to a contortionist in a clear plastic ball on top of the pool. After dinner, Ed chose Joe Cocker’s “You Are So Beautiful” as the traditional first dance. Next came Janie’s choice, Cyndi Lauper’s “Time After Time, ” as she invited the guests to join them. DJ KMP provided the rest of the music as the bride and groom boogied into the night.

As the party ended, each guest received Calvin Klein and Kate Spade vases and flowers. They were also treated to old-fashioned-style candy, including ring pops, candy necklaces, pop rocks, wax lips and custom printed M & M’s.

The couple plan to honeymoon in New York, Germany and the Netherlands, where Eddie was born.

(source)

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Oct 062008

Eddie Van Halen is engaged to his girlfriend/manager Janie Liszewski, we’ve learned.

Van Halen, 53, proposed to Liszewski, 38, on Aug. 4 while they were vacationing in Hawaii. The rock guitarist dropped to one knee and popped the question in a private room at Tiffany’s, a source close to the couple said.

The couple plan to wed next June.

“They are happy, healthy, very much in love and looking forward to living life together forever,” says the source. “They are devoted to each other and to experiencing life in a whole new, positive and passionate way.”

It will be the second marriage for Van Halen. He was married to actress Valerie Bertinelli, with whom he has a 17-year-old son, Wolfgang. It will be the first marriage for Liszewski.

Van Halen returned to touring in April after missing a number of concert dates while undergoing tests for a mystery illness.

In 2002, Van Halen announced that he had recovered from tongue cancer.

(source)

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Mar 112008

Rock band Van Halen’s reunion tour fell into disarray on Monday when it announced it would postpone all shows through April 19 while guitarist Eddie Van Halen undergoes tests for an unspecified medical condition.

The news came a week after the group postponed four shows for the same reason.

Seventeen shows are now affected, beginning Tuesday in Charlottesville, Va., and running through April 15 in Baltimore, which was one of the four postponed last week. The next scheduled show is set for April 19 in Las Vegas.

According to organizers, Van Halen, 53, who has battled cancer and substance abuse, “is currently under doctors’ care” and will “continue medical tests to define a course of treatment.” No further details were made available.

Fans are being asked to keep their tickets, which will be honored at makeup dates to be announced.

Van Halen returned to the road last fall with original lead singer David Lee Roth for the first time in 20-plus years. The tour, which features Eddie Van Halen’s teenage son Wolfgang on bass in place of co-founder Michael Anthony, has routinely sold out North American arenas.

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Mar 042008

Van Halen have postponed four concerts while guitarist Eddie Van Halen undergoes medical treatment, the band announced Monday.

“The Van Halen concerts in Dallas, Cincinnati, Raleigh, and Baltimore have been postponed,” says a new message on the band’s Web site. “According to Eddie Van Halen’s physician, he is undergoing a battery of comprehensive medical tests to determine a defined diagnosis and recommended medical procedures.”

On Sunday TMZ.com posted a YouTube video of him playing onstage during a Feb. 20 concert and speculated about his performance during their song “Jump.” But fans commenting on the clip were divided about whether there was actually anything wrong with the performance at all.

In 2002, Eddie Van Halen announced he was cancer-free after a year of battling the disease.

The band’s postponed shows have been rescheduled for April.

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Feb 252008

Valerie Bertinelli says despite her girl-next-door image, her marriage to Eddie Van Halen was hurt by infidelity and drug use – by her, too. “I wasn’t an angel, either. I cheated, too,” Bertinelli said on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” broadcast Monday. “He claims to this day that I cheated first, but I don’t know. I don’t know about the timing.”

Bertinelli, who starred in the long-running sitcom “One Day at a Time,” married Van Halen in 1981 when she was 20. She said she was “destroying my body,” trying to keep up with a rock-star lifestyle on the weekends and weeks off from taping her TV show.

“It got to a point where whenever I heard the birds chirp, I’d be like, `Oh, God, no.’ It took me years after stopping the cocaine before I was able to enjoy a sunrise and enjoy the sound of birds,” she said.

The couple separated in 2001. Their divorce became final in December. They have a son, Wolfgang, who’s now 16 and touring as bassist with the band Van Halen.

The actress, 47, said she has struggled with body-image issues since she was a child, but especially turned to food for comfort as her marriage dissolved.

Bertinelli is now a spokeswoman for Jenny Craig and said she’s lost 40 pounds. She has a new book, “Losing It: And Gaining My Life Back One Pound at a Time.”

Van Halen’s publicist said the musician had no comment on Bertinelli’s book or interviews to promote it.

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Feb 212008

Valerie Bertinelli is kissing and telling: In a revealing new sit-down with Oprah Winfrey, the actress and Jenny Craig spokeswoman says that she and ex-husband Eddie Van Halen cheated on each other.

“I cheated,” she tells Oprah on the episode, airing Feb. 25. “He claims to this day that I cheated first, but I don’t know. I don’t know about the timing.”

Bertinelli, 47, who’s promoting her tell-all book, Losing It: And Gaining My Life Back One Pound at a Time, also reveals that her ex, with whom she’s now friendly, wanted to take their relationship slow – at least at first. “He didn’t want to sleep with you,” asked Winfrey. Responded Bertinelli: “I know … I wanted to sleep with him … and he wanted to talk to my dad first.”

(source)

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Dec 112007

Rock guitarist Eddie Van Halen’s Hollywood Hills home home narrowly escaped serious damage on Monday, after a broken water main sent mud and debris gushing across his yard, the Los Angeles Times reported on its Web site.

Van Halen’s swimming pool disappeared under the deluge, and potted plants and trees were also demolished, his girlfriend Janie Liszewski told the paper. But the house was saved after firefighters fortified it with sandbags, she said.

The couple were not at home when the destruction started shortly after midnight on Monday. They were in the Canadian city of Edmonton for a reunion concert the night before by Van Halen’s eponymous band.

They returned on Monday to survey the damage, which was caused by a broken air valve on a water main, the paper said. It sent torrents of water through the streets of the bucolic Coldwater Canyon neighborhood, but Van Halen’s property was the only one affected by the flood.

(source)

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Aug 102007

Halen officially announces the group’s big reunion Monday, and promoters are keeping their fingers crossed that habitually warring Eddie Van Halen and David Lee Roth can remain civil to each other long enough to complete a 50-show tour. Journalists at the press conference at the Four Seasons in L.A. will no doubt be studying the body language of Eddie and Diamond Dave, as well as band members Alex and Wolfgang Van Halen (Eddie’s teenage son, who replaces Michael Anthony). While promoter Live Nation has not announced New York dates, The Post’s Dan Aquilante expects the band here in early October, when it will still be warm enough for a Giants Stadium gig. The tour was set to start last spring, but then Eddie checked himself into rehab for alcohol abuse. When the feud was at its angriest years ago, Roth was replaced by Sammy Hagar. If the reformed band survives without eruptions, they could earn as much as $70 million on the U.S. leg alone.

(source)

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May 282007

Eddie Van Halen Comments Off

Rocker Eddie Van Halen has issued a statement expressing his gratitude to fans who supported him as he battled alcoholism in rehab earlier this year.

The guitarist postponed a summer Van Halen tour to seek help for his heavy drinking, and feared fans would be far from understanding – but now admits he has been humbled by an outpouring of support.

In a message posted on his website on Saturday, Van Halen writes, “I want to say thank you to all the Van Halen fans for the tons of emails and all the support they provided when I was in rehab earlier this year.

“It was an intensely personal thing that I’m not really comfortable talking about right now, but I want everyone to know that their support has, and always will, mean the world to me. I want everyone to know that I am truly grateful.”

Meanwhile, Van Halen has agreed to give his first full post-rehab interview to the September issue of Guitar World magazine, where he’ll talk about his new custom-made amplifier, the EVH 5150 III.

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