What Are Van Halen’s 5 Biggest US Hits?

Argue if you must about which Van Halen era was the finest. Whether you’re in the David Lee Roth or Sammy Hagar lead singer camp, you can’t deny that the band, in both incarnations, did quite well when they made a play for the pop charts.

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No other hard rock act of their era could boast that same kind of crossover success. Both the Roth and Hagar eras are well represented in this list of Van Halen’s biggest US pop hits.

5. “Panama” – No. 13 in 1984

1984 was the album where Van Halen enjoyed their biggest pop success. It also, perhaps not coincidentally, would also be their last album with David Lee Roth at the helm (at least until his return a few decades down the road). As a matter of fact, they actually had two songs from this album make it all the way to No. 13. “I’ll Wait” reached that level as well. But “Panama” sold a little bit better on the whole. The chunky guitar riffs at the start of the song were a bit of a new approach for the band, as was the lyrical focus on cars. There’s a cool, moody breakdown that sets up the return of the chorus perfectly.

4. “Oh, Pretty Woman” – No. 12 in 1982

Van Halen always did a nice job of putting their stamp on rock classics. On their first album, they did a gritty take on The Kinks’ “You Really Got Me”. In the case of “Oh, Pretty Woman”, they originally planned it as a standalone single. But it did so well that the label asked if they might want to throw together an LP. That request led to the hastily assembled Diver Down. Just as they did with “You Really Got Me”, they used an instrumental to introduce the cover of the album. The synth-driven “Intruder”, with its sinister-sounding minor keys, segues into those familiar opening strains of the Roy Orbison evergreen in thrilling fashion.

3. “When It’s Love” – No. 5 in 1988

It’s fair to wonder whether Van Halen might have entered the power ballad game at some point if David Lee Roth had stuck around in the 80s. You can almost imagine him rolling his eyes at the earnestness of it all. Maybe Eddie Van Halen realized that Sammy Hagar had it in him to deliver those songs, which is why he started turning a bit more in that direction with his composing as the 80s progressed. With “When It’s Love”, the band certainly proved that they could tackle a power ballad with all the requisite emotion. The synths are stirring. And the VH’s underrated backing vocals are truly in the spotlight.

2. “Why Can’t This Be Love” – No. 3 in 1986

In the history of rock, the first single from Van Halen’s 1986 album 5150 ranks way up there in terms of the most highly anticipated and scrutinized songs ever. If Van Halen had chosen poorly, or perhaps just failed to come up with something good, the Sammy Hagar era could have been torpedoed pretty quickly. Luckily, they delivered with a churning rocker buoyed by an unmistakably catchy synthesizer riff. The lyrics to the verses are a bit clumsy, for sure. But the chorus is a winner. And Hagar’s scatting over Eddie Van Halen’s guitar riffs was a nice touch that showed off the newfound chemistry within the group.

1. “Jump” – No. 1 in 1984

You have to give credit to Van Halen for being fearless about upending their loyal fan base’s expectations. It’s natural that folks might have expected a guitar-driven rocker as the lead single from the 1984 album. But Eddie Van Halen was a bit too restless to let his styles stagnate. As a result, you get an Olympics-style synth riff that immediately sets you up for something triumphant. The rhythmic bed laid down by Michael Anthony and Alex Van Halen keeps the engines pumping. David Lee Roth puts the icing on the cake with some seize-the-day lyrical prompts. Lo and behold, those bad boy rockers Van Halen sat atop the pop charts.

Photo by Fin Costello/Redferns