Dave Matthews’ mother Valerie Matthews has died at the age of 89 after suffering a health downturn due to natural causes and going into hospice care.
The 58-year-old rock star and his siblings Jane and Peter were at Val’s bedside when she died on February 9, sources have informed TMZ.
Shortly before, Dave had canceled an appearance at a January 30 benefit concert for Los Angeles wildfire relief, owing to a ‘critical illness in the family.’
Val succumbed to her health problems at her home in Charlottesville, Virginia after a battle with Alzheimer’s, according to her obituary on Legacy.com.
She was born Valerie Anne Borchers in 1935, in Potchefstroom, South Africa and married Dave’s father John Matthews in Johannesburg in 1961.
John and Val were married for 15 years until he died of Hodgkin’s lymphoma at the age of just 45 – when Dave was only 10 years old.
Dave Matthews’ mother Valerie Matthews has died at the age of 89 after suffering a health downturn due to natural causes and going into hospice care
Valerie succumbed to her health problems at her home in Charlottesville, Virginia after a battle with Alzheimer’s, according to her obituary on Legacy.com
She worked in architecture in a variety of locales, including not just Johannesburg but also London, Cambridge, upstate New York and then Charlottesville.
Charlottesville became the city where Dave Matthews Band was formed, and where they placed their first show in 1991 at Trax Nightclub.
During her marriage to John, a physicist, Val welcomed four children into the world – Dave, Jane, Peter and her late daughter Anne.
Val’s life was rocked by tragedy in 1994 when Anne was murdered in South Africa by her husband, who then committed suicide.
The couple’s two orphaned children were taken in by Val, who moved them from South Africa to Charlottesville and cared for them there.
After her first husband’s death, Val found love again with retired biologist Lee Strait, whom she married in 1991 and remained with until he lost his life to a stroke in 2000.
She was a faithful Quaker and a vocal advocate of causes like gay marriage and women’s rights, as well as a staunch opponent of racism and other forms of bigotry.
During her decline with Alzheimer’s, Val was tended to by a team of female caregivers, whom her family thanked in her obituary.
‘Val’s family will be forever grateful to this remarkable group of women for their selflessness, diligence, humor, and love, and for the grace and dignity they afforded Val as she battled Alzheimers Disease,’ the tribute read.
The obituary makes reference to Val’s joyful disposition, which she passed down to Dave, who credited her with his desire to produce music that makes people happy.
‘I want to be honest in the music that I make, and I want to be deliberate in the music that I make. But I hope that people find real joy in it,’ he told GQ in 2023.
‘I can’t not be my mother’s son’ he explained. ‘I can’t switch it. I might want to, but boy – if I’d come out with a grunge album? Someone would’ve hit me with a rock.’
Val is survived by her children Dave, Jane and Peter and their respective spouses, as well as by six grandchildren and a great-grandson.
