On This Day, March 17, 1984: Van Halen’s '1984' peaks at #2 on the 'Billboard' Albums chart

By Jill Lances

March 17, 2025 at 7:00 am EDT

On This Day, March 17, 1984...

Van Halen's sixth studio album, 1984, hit #2 on the Billboard Albums chart and stayed there for five weeks.

The album was denied the top spot by Michael Jackson's Thriller – which features guest guitar work from Eddie Van Halen on the track "Beat It."

While 1984 never reached #1, it did go on to sell more than 10 million copies. It featured such classic Van Halen tracks as their only #1 single "Jump," "Panama," "Hot For Teacher" and "I'll Wait."

1984 was the last Van Halen album to feature original frontman David Lee Roth, until 2012's A Different Kind of Truth. It was also the last full-length album to feature all four original members of Van Halen, as bassist Michael Anthony was replaced by Eddie's son Wolfgang Van Halen on the 2012 album.

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