In Valerie Bertinelli's memoir, Losing It and Gaining My Life Back, she wrote that when the priest who married them gave them pre-wedding quizzes to fill out, each of them did so while holding "a little vial of coke." Cocaine was a relatively new habit for Van Halen, according to Country Living, since he'd previously stuck with mostly marijuana and alcohol — albeit, on a daily basis. Even on their wedding day, the musician's alcoholism led to him vomiting over the toilet, and the substance abuse issues only worsened from there. In an interview with Oprah Winfrey, Bertinelli admitted that she'd used drugs to stay up until the early hours of the morning, in those days, to the point where it took her years to enjoy the morning sounds of chirping birds. Meanwhile, while onlookers were amazed at their love, the couple themselves felt an emptiness. "He had his responsibilities of what he had to do, and I had my responsibilities," she later said. "And we thought if you just live in the same house there would be a connection, but no."

Infidelity was another issue. Both cheated on each other. Nonetheless, they stubbornly tried to make it work, both for themselves and their son. 

Eventually, though, the drug problems reached fever pitch, according to the Chicago Tribune, particularly in regard to Van Halen's alcoholism. By the time he finally reached sobriety, in 2008, they had parted ways.

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7qL7Up56eZpOkunB%2BlHBtbnBfqbWmedOrmKChk2KxpsDAoqOsZZGXvLbAjJ6bnaGVYsOiuoyhmKWdnmKur7CMr5ilnaKesm6uxKuroqaVobmqv4ymmKuqmZa0pns%3D