Van Halen, "Everybody Wants Some" even Valerie Bertinelli at one time in her young life. However, Valerie's Rock And Roll dream quickly turned into a rock and roll marriage nightmare for her and Eddie Van Halen.
Sitcom star Valerie Bertinelli reveals she will always in a way love Eddie Van Halen
Valerie Bertinelli was like a lot of young girls in the early 80's crushing over a long-haired rock and roll star. Valerie's crush, however, became her love, but it came with a hard price. This is just one of the wild stories told by former Van Halen manager Noel Monk in his new tell-all book "Runnin' with the Devil.
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The booze and drugs were more than Bertinelli could handle
Monk details Valerie and Eddie's wedding day revealing how a 20-year-old Bertinelli married her dream man and despite the horrific start for the young bride stayed married for nearly twenty years.
Drugs and booze and crazy sex-starved groupies were the norm for Van Halen members. The alcohol and drugs were such a problem for the band that Eddie's brother and co-founder Alex Van Halen's alcoholic hallucinations were so far out there he believed he had seen "giant penis' coming out of a wall.
Things were bad for all members including Eddie, Alex, Michael Anthony, and wild man David Lee Roth..'Drink a bottle of booze, pop a couple 'ludes, smoke a joint or two (or ten) and see where the night takes you' – was the mantra according to the tell-all book titled, "Runnin' with the Devil: A Backstage Pass to the Wild Times, Loud Rock, and the Down and Dirty Truth Behind the Making of Van Halen"
This is when "One Day at a Time" star Valerie Bertinelli came unknowingly in.
Jumping into marriage just seven months after meeting. It was love at first sight for both according to reports. However, it was never smooth sailing for the couple, but despite all the chaos that went with being married to a rock star the two stuck it out.
Ten years after their wedding the couple welcomed a son, Wolfgang Van Halen.
Things finally began taking its toll on the marriage with the couple splitting up in 2001. Val and Eddie were always very good about keeping their personal life, the good, the bad and the ugly under wraps and always appeared in public as a strong united team, especially when it came to their son Wolfgang.
Time went on and as their son grew older they grew wearier trying to keep up appearances and finally officially divorced in 2007.
Moving on with their lives, Wolfgang grew into a talented musician and now has joined the Van Halen band line up.
Eddie and Valerie each moved on also finding new lives and relationships, but remaining dear friends. “I do love Ed so much, and I care about what happens to him. He’s my son’s father,” Bertinelli told USA Today after the couple’s divorce was finalized in late 2007.
Bertinelli wrote in her memoir book "Losing It: And Gaining My Life Back One Pound at a Time" her reasons for leaving Eddie. First of she claims was Eddie's cocaine addiction. Even Valerie is said to have fallen prey to the drugs and drink for a short time, but it was a lifestyle she did not want and left behind her.
Ed's cocaine addiction was followed by his refusal to stop smoking and take care of his health even after he was diagnosed with tongue cancer and losing one-third of his tongue in the process of treatment for it.
Valerie spoke with USA Today after the divorce revealing that everyone all gets along great with their exes’ significant others and vice versa, she added, “I was very, very in love with Ed in the beginning, but I was 20. I’ll always love him, but not in that way. It’s now like a mother/son or brother/sister thing.”
Even before Valerie and Ed's marriage fell apart, the band collapsed. In 1985 the fighting, addiction, and inflated egos ripped the band apart.
'Too much talent and too much ego, too many disparate personalities, too many drugs and alcohol. They had to be great right from the beginning because there was no way it could last', Monk writes.
To get the complete story of Van Halen as seen through Noel Monk's eyes his tell-all book "Runnin' with the Devil" is available in bookstores everywhere.
