10 Rock Bands That Fell Apart At The Top Of Their Game
8. Van Halen
Every single characteristic of hair metal lives in the shadow of the kind of music Van Halen started. Starting just a few years shy of the '80s, the next decade was one that they practically built from the ground up, with their debut launching Eddie Van Halen as a guitar superstar and David Lee Roth as one of the most electric frontmen of the modern age. They may have given birth to this new decade of rock, but that didn't mean they wouldn't have scars to show for it.
Around the time that hair metal was kicking into high gear, the band seemed to be just getting started to impress us on 1984, bringing in the keyboards and striking a perfect balance with the heavy guitars in the process. Behind the scenes though, things were cratering between the Van Halens and Diamond Dave, with Eddie putting his foot down about the way the records should be made.
Once the tour came to an end, the tension over Dave releasing a solo EP Crazy From the Heat led to him being kicked out of the group, opting for a solo career and flipping the bird to the brothers in the process. While this seemed like terminal damage to the group, they did end up finding new life with Sammy Hagar just a few years later on 5150. In a year where they should have dominated the competition though, Van Halen looked like they were about to face a pretty grim future.