In 1980, on March 26th, the band's third album, Women And Children First, is released. It's certified gold on May 29th and platinum on June 2nd.

Back in May, while filming a performance for Italian television at the Piper Club in Rome (Italy), Dave, fractures his nose executing a leap from Alex Van Halen's drum riser hitting a low-hanging lighting rig. Always hyperactive, in February, David Lee Roth forms the Jungle Studs, a group of 14 adventurers (lawyers, accountants, doctors and one singer, DLR himself). They make annual treks that include kayaking Alaskan rivers and climbing mountains in Nepal.

On New Year's Eve, Edward Van Halen proposes to actress Valerie Bertinelli and offers her an emerald-cut diamond ring worth $8000.

In 1981, four months after proposing, on April 11th, Edward Van Halen weds Valerie Bertinelli at St. Paul the Apostle Church in Westwood. But that is no reason for slowing down, as the band release their fourth album, Fair Warning on April 29th. On July 7th, Fair Warning is certified gold and platinum on November 18th.


On April 14th, 1982, Diver Down is released, an album less appreciated for having too much cover songs and less original material. On June 26th 27th, Van Halen is rehearsing in Francis Ford Coppola's Zoetrope Studios in Hollywood, warming up for the Hide Your Sheep tour in support of their recent release. On October 15th, Edward Van Halen is diagnosed with a left wrist fracture after being x-rayed at Hand Surgery Associates in NY. This leads to the cancellation of three shows.

One week later, on October 22nd, Van Halen Day is declared by Mayor Sara Robertson in Worchester (Massachussets, USA), after WAAF Radio sponsoring a 25000-signature petition to get the band to add a third show at The Centrum.

In March, 1983, the 5150 Studio is built at Edward's place (after all five band's albums having been recorded in professional studios). It begins as a 12-metres long room with an adjustable ceiling height and it's expected to be the rehearsal and recording place for the upcoming album.

On April 20th, Edward and his wife rent Marvin Hamlisch's Malibu beach house for the summer of 1983. That summer, at Malibu, while stumbling over the piano after alcohol abuse, Edward writes "Strung Out" and later that summer, three instrumentals for The Seduction of Gina, a movie-of-the-week starring Valerie Bertinelli.

On January 9th, 1984, "MCMLXXXIV" (or "1984", if you prefer) is released. The first single, "Jump", begins a five-week peak at #1 on the Billboard's Singles chart. On March 12th, 1984 is certified gold and platinum. Later that week, on March 17th, 1984 begins a four-week peak at #2 on Billboard's Top LP chart. The album will never reach #1 because of Michael Jackson's "Thriller", an album that features one of Eddie's most memorable solos (on "Beat It").

On October 22nd, the band's first album, "Van Halen", is certified platinum fives times over. "Van Halen II" is certified triple platinum. "Women And Children First" is certified double platinum. On October 24th, 1984 is certified platinum four times over. On December 31st, David Lee Roth releases his first solo album, "Crazy From The Heat".

On January 23rd, 1985, the album "1984" is certified platinum fives times over. On April Fool's, David Lee Roth calls Eddie to let him know that he's leaving Van Halen.

Soon after, singer/guitarist/song-writer Sammy Hagar, who had been introduced to the band during a previous tour with Hagar's former band Montrose, joined as the new frontman. The word is that he and Edward had the same mechanic and he somehow mentioned Sammy to Ed.

The band's first album together is "5150", which includes several hits like "Summer Nights" (the first song written together), "Dreams", "Best Of Both Worlds", "Love Walks In" and the mega-hit "Why Can't This Be Love"

Following the success of "5150", Van Halen's least successeful album to date is released on 1987. The album is called "OU812" (meaning "oh, you ate one too") and it's a direct reply to David Lee Roth's "Eat'em And Smile" with his solo band that starred Steve Vai (on guitars), Billy Sheehan (on bass) and Gregg Bisonette (on drums). The first single is "Black And Blue", a song that was only heard live on the subsequent tour, indicative of the album's success.

Van Halen's period with Sammy Hagar was marked by two somewhat opposing trends: expansion of the band's commercial success and acceptance by a wider audience while at the same time experiencing a growing sense of fan resentment regarding the departure of Roth. Hagar's musical sensibility enabled Van Halen to be more accessible to a wider audience with lyrics that were more introspective and dreamy. This was coupled with expanded instrumentation by Eddie that demonstrated tighter thematic elements brought about through more advanced blending of sonic textures within each song.

The result was a more mature, more integrated sound that differed markedly from the hard charging, straight through, run-away riffs of the group's earlier work. Die-hard "old Van Halen" fans derisively referred to the new "Van-Hagar" sound as "soft" or "fluffy" when compared with the earlier Roth-era raucous 80s party, hair-band style, a sound which Roth himself once described as a mix of "religion and hockey".

During Hagar's tenure, the band established a successful musical formula which delivered both commercial and artistic success. All four studio albums reached the #1 spot on the Billboard pop music chart. Also, during this time, 17 singles breached the top 12 of the mainstream rock tracks chart. In addition, Van Halen was nominated for two Grammy Awards, winning the 1991 Best Hard Rock Performance with Vocal award for the album "For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge". Amazingly, Van Halen continued to enjoy tremendous popular success through the mid-90's, a period during which the anti-corporate rock, "Grunge Music" revolution, ended a decade of "Glam Metal" and dealt the final blow to many hard rock acts of the 1980s.