“Now looking back, it's like how could I saddle some man with Wolfgang and Van Halen?” she asked during an appearance on 'The Drew Barrymore Show'
Credit: Drew Barrymore Show
NEED TO KNOW
- Valerie Bertinelli named her son Wolfgang after Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
- Wolfgang Van Halen inherited his father Eddie Van Halen’s musical talent, showing interest in instruments as a baby
- Wolfgang and wife Andraia Allsop joined his mom on The Drew Barrymore Show, where they recalled falling in love after meeting on Instagram
Valerie Bertinelli is opening up about the inspiration for her son’s musical name.
During an appearance on The Drew Barrymore Show alongside son Wolfgang Van Halen and his wife, Andraia Allsop, the celebrity chef noted that he’s named after Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
“Now looking back, it's like how could I saddle some man with Wolfgang and Van Halen?” she asked. “It's like, what if he doesn't become a musician? But the thing is, our house always had instruments, like there was guitars on every wall, there was a piano, there was a drum set.”
She said she could tell even at a young age that her musician son, now, 35, inherited his father Eddie Van Halen’s talent.

Credit: Drew Barrymore Show
“So even as a little baby before he could walk, you could see if you watch the ‘Distance’ video, you can see him just constantly plucking on strings and just fascinated by what Ed was doing on the guitar. It was always in him.”
Bertinelli, 65, was married to the late Van Halen frontman from 1981 until 2007. Eddie died from cancer in October 2020 at age 65. Following his dad’s death, Wolfgang released the song “Distance” with his band Mammoth as a tribute.
When Bertinelli admitted she worried about her son entering the music business, which she said “tried to destroy his father,” host Barrymore suggested that he’s stayed grounded because he has “a good mom looking out for him.”
“I like to say that Wolfie is the man he is in spite of me and Ed,” Bertinelli said. “We made a lot of mistakes, but in the end he always had unconditional love.”

Credit: Drew Barrymore Show
Wolfgang and Andraia also recalled falling in love after meeting on Instagram, eight years before they tied the knot in an intimate ceremony at their Los Angeles home in October 2023.
“At the time that it felt funny, but now in hindsight seeing like what has developed with the way people meet now, it's not that uncommon anymore,” he said.
“We went to get sushi and then we ended up watching the stars in Malibu in a hammock and we laid there for like four hours and we probably saw like six shooting stars,” he remembered. “Iif you were, like, one of those superstitious people it's like, ‘Oh yeah, like the universe is telling us that like we're stupid to ignore any of the signs.’”
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