The Untold Truth Of Eddie Van Halen's Wife, Janie Liszewski
The rock and roll world — and the rest of the world, for that matter — lost a true legend. On October 6, 2020, Eddie Van Halen died after a battle with cancer. He was 65 years old. The Van Halen guitarist is survived by his son, Wolfgang Van Halen, and his wife, Janie Liszewski. According to TMZ, Wolfgang, Liszewski, Valerie Bertinelli, and Alex Van Halen were all with him at St. John's Hospital in Santa Monica.
Eddie and Liszewski's relationship — which started the rocker's split from Bertinelli — was relatively private. According to People, Van Halen proposed in 2008 in "a private room at Tiffany's" while they were on vacation in Hawaii. The two married the following year at a casual ceremony at home, as People reported, that included a groom in flip-flops, a bride walking down the aisle to a string quartet's rendition of "When It's Love," corn dogs, vows penned by the couple, and an "elegant wedding cake" that "was layered with white chocolate, strawberries, whipped cream and decorated with white hydrangeas."
Fate connected Janie Liszewski and Eddie Van Halen
Janie Liszewski runs a PR firm called High Profile Media. In 2006, Liszewski became Eddie Van Halen's public relations rep, and that career move altered both of their lives forever: According to the Regina Leader-Post, they "met when she was hired to be his publicist." Three years after they joined professional forces, Liszewski and Van Halen tied the knot.
Before she began working with her future husband, Liszewski was a publicist in the adult entertainment industry. She told 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." According to the outlet, the two first ended up in each other's orbit when Van Halen made some songs for a film called "Sacred Sin." As AVN put it, "Liszewski met up with the Van Halen organization while working on the publicity" for the movie. And with that, their love story began.
Janie Liszewski lost another family member in 2020
Janie Liszewski didn't only lose the love of her life in 2020. Although the wife of Eddie Van Halen is a self-described "private" person, she did give her followers a peek into her personal life in June 2020, when she uploaded a photo announcing the death of her brother, Tom Liszewski. The second photo in the carousel presumably shows Janie and Tom as kids. "Rest In Peace Tom June 17th, 2020 #mybrother," she wrote, accompanied by a broken heart emoji.
A week following the announcement, she posted a somber update on her mental state, 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. #thankyou." How heartbreaking — it's clear 2020 was not a great time for Liszewski. However, the year was far from done with her, and she would soon lose another close family member.
Janie Liszewski mourned the death of another family member
An incredibly difficult year for most people around the world, 2020 was apparently even more difficult for Janie Liszewski. Not only did she lose her husband and brother, 2020 was also the year another member of her family died. Taking to Instagram in November of that year, Liszewski announced the passing of her mother. "Mom beautiful mom has left this earth to be with her husband Martin, son Tom and son in law Ed," she wrote alongside a picture of them together. "I am absolutely devastated and just don't know how much more I can take."
In the months that have passed since then, Liszewski has continued to mourn and pay tribute to her mother on different occasions. "I miss my mom so much," she wrote in part in a January 2021 post. "She was my rock and the person who absolutely knew me best. The one who I could call and talk to for hours, who could make everything ok." Though painful, Liszewski is clearly committed to carrying on her mother's legacy. To the athlete, her mama lives on!
Janie Liszewski is passionate about dance
Of her many interests, Janie Liszewski is seemingly most passionate about dance. Taking to Instagram in May 2022, Liszewski shared a throwback photo of herself during a ballroom dance performance. "Five years ago I did my very first ballroom dance competition in the theater arts category in Scottsdale, AZ," she captioned, adding that, even though many things have changed over the years, her passion for dancing remains.
Would we say we are surprised by this revelation? Well, not so much! Liszewski has in the past admitted to her love for dance, and simply from talking about it, you could tell the passion in her voice. "I like waltz, there's something really zen-like to me," she told JV Sports Show in a 2020 live stream session. "I never envisioned ... that I would be in a big ball gown kind of floating across the floor." Liszewski's passion is not enough to compel her to go on a show like "Dancing with the Stars," however, because of its enormous demands. "I like to learn at my own pace," she admitted.
She has a background in wrestling
A woman of many talents, Janie Liszewski is currently also making strides in the world of wrestling, per an Instagram account for her alter-ego, Lita Lamae. In 2019, Liszewski started working as a pro-wrestling manager, working for her dance partner, Louie Martinez. "Celebrating my first year as a #prowrestlingmanager," Liszewski wrote on Instagram in 2020. "It's been an adventure unlike any other and I'm still learning, but so much fun." While there are many interesting parts to the job, Liszewski does have one aspect she loves over all others: "Meeting cool people is my favorite part of this adventure," she shared in a 2019 post.
If you are wondering how Liszewski and Martinez met, here's the deets! As revealed in a Question and Answer session on YouTube, the pair met at a charity event in 2017. After bumping into each other again at a mutual friend's birthday party, Liszewski walked up to Martinez to discuss a potential partnership and the rest, as they say, is history. Interestingly, Liszewski and Martinez have found a way to bring their love for dance and wrestling together. During a joint appearance on the JV Sports Show, the dance partners revealed that one of their favorite dance moves was adopted directly from wrestling.
She has worked different jobs over the years
Before wrestling and dancing, Janie Liszewski had a career in PR. In 2007, she reportedly resumed duties as an exclusive publicist (via Van Halen News Desk) for Eddie Van Halen, who was only her boyfriend at the time. Prior to this, Liszewski mostly put her PR skills to use in the adult film industry. She also formerly worked as a stuntwoman, with credits in well over 10 movies between 2001 and 2005, per IMDb. Some of her most remarkable projects include "The Wedding Planner," "Spider-Man 2," and the 2005 crime movie, "Havoc." Still in the film industry, Liszewski also once delved into acting, with minor roles in shows like "CSI: Miami" and "Profiler," per IMDb.
Liszewski has also previously worked across many more industries, including as a teacher (per Instagram) and participating in pageantry. Yep, you read that right. According to a May 2022 Instagram post, back in her 20s, Liszewski was in the national level Miss Fitness USA competitions — an experience that has, in her words, "followed me through my life and still gives me motivation to train hard." Now, if this isn't the definition of versatility, we don't know what is!
She was 'shattered' by Eddie Van Halen's death
After being together as a couple for over a decade, it was only a given that Janie Liszweski was devastated by Eddie Van Halen's passing. "My husband, my love, my Peep, My heart and soul have been shattered into a million pieces, ” Liszweski wrote in part in a tribute following the musician's death. She also admitted to feeling incredible sadness, adding that their love and connection will always remain. She concluded: "Saying goodbye is the hardest thing I have ever had to do, so instead I say so long, I will see you again soon in a place with no pain or sorrow."
In celebration of the first anniversary of Van Halen's death, Liszweski took to Instagram with yet another heartfelt tribute. "I think about you every single day," she wrote in part. "Your smile, your laugh, your kindness — in every single way." To the world, Eddie Van Halen was a rock and roll legend, but to Liszewski, he clearly was all of that and more.
Janie Liszewski had a close brush with cancer
Losing Eddie Van Halen to cancer was far from the only time Janie Liszewski has had to deal with the disease. In fact, the pro wrestler has had her fair share of cancer scares herself throughout her life. Taking to Instagram in 2019, she shared that, for many years, doctors had been monitoring abnormal nodules on her thyroid. "I was finally cleared and told they have not grown/changed and are not cancerous," Liszewski added. But it was not long before she had another scare.
In 2021, Liszewski had one failed attempt at a biopsy and then a second one that eventually confirmed that some lumps in her breasts were benign. "Your support, kind words and informative posts truly helped me through this procedure," she wrote in part to fans in an Instagram post. Expectedly, Liszweski's scary health journey has turned her into a health advocate. "Ladies, and gentlemen too, please stay on top of your health stuff, it's really important," she told her fans.