Valerie Bertinelli Says She Did Not Cause Original Van Halen Lineup Split
Post-1984, Van Halen were riding high enjoying some of the biggest success of their career, but that album would prove to be their last with singer David Lee Roth. While joining Rob Lowe on the Literally! With Rob Lowe podcast (as heard below), Eddie Van Halen's ex-wife Valerie Bertinelli looked back on that period, revealing that while she sensed a friction with Roth, she was not the cause of the band's split at the time.
Bertinelli has been making the promotional rounds in support of her book, "Enough Already: Learning To Love The Way I Am Today," and the book delves into her relationship with Van Halen and saying goodbye to the musician who died in 2020 from cancer.
During the chat with Lowe, the actress and TV host opened up about the beginnings of her relationship with Van Halen after first meeting backstage at a concert.
"After Ed and I became involved, all of a sudden there was this rule that there was no girlfriends and no wives allowed on the road," recalled Bertinelli as transcribed by Blabbermouth, adding, "I got along great with Al and with Mike. It was someone else," she then added, referencing Roth that had an issue with her.
"I don't know why he didn't like me, but what are you gonna do? I don't know why he didn't like me. I mean, I was always nice to him. I honestly don't know," she explained to Lowe. "One day I'd like to sit down with him and go, 'Dude, what did I do? Honestly, I've always been a fan of yours. I think you're a brilliant frontman, I think you're a brilliant songwriter, I love your lyrics. Why don't you like me? What did I do?'"
When the host asked her if she was the "Yoko Ono of Van Halen," Bertinelli responded, "Well, I have been accused of that, even though Yoko didn't break up The Beatles, and I certainly didn't break up Van Halen."
Bertinelli and Van Halen wed on April 11, 1981 and the couple eventually split with their divorce being finalized in 2007. But even after they parted legally, they remained in each other's lives
"Ed and I grew even closer together," Bertinelli recalled in a USA Today interview earlier this year.. "We couldn’t live with each other, but we found it impossible to live completely apart." Bertinelli and her son with Eddie, Wolfgang Van Halen, were at the hospital daily along with Van Halen's wife Janie Liszewski and his brother Alex in the guitarist's final days.
Valerie Bertinelli Speaks With Rob Lowe on the Literally! With Rob Lowe Podcast
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