Love on the rocks for rock couples
While Kim Kardashian runs unchallenged for most important divorce in the universe, elsewhere in the entertainment industry there have been a few other quiet uncouplings that are no less newsworthy.
In mid-October, Sonic Youth figureheads Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon announced that they’re separating after 27 years of marriage. Earlier this week, actress and She & Him singer Zooey Deschanel and Death Cab for Cutie singer Ben Gibbard announced their separation after two years of marriage.
For some reason, musical romances seem to be more legitimate than Hollywood marriages. Perhaps because the résumé bullet points of a songwriter include exploring the essence of love and giving hope to the masses. And when those people find love in their own personal lives, it makes everyone happy.
But musical couplings seem rife with hazards and a history of rock relationships being, well, rocky.
Within the pop pairings there are more Bobby Brown and Whitney Houston examples than there are successful ones like Arcade Fire’s Win Butler and Regine Chassagne.
If both partners are leaders in their bands, they obviously have strong personalities. And if they’re in the same band, that’s even more challenging.
Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova made a lovely musical couple in the movie “Once,” and in their band, the Swell Season, the pair made a convincing case for the existence of true love. But when we spoke with Hansard a few years ago, he said the romance route was not productive for their art:?“We kind of tried it out, and decided it wasn’t for us.”
Blake Hazard and John Dragonetti continue to shine as a beacon of wedded hope. In their band, the Submarines, they lyrically lay out their quarrels.
“Without getting into it too much, it’s been up and down,” said Dragonetti when we spoke to him this past spring. “We’re trying to figure it out. It gives us stuff to write about.”
Hazard chimed in, “I don’t think there’s quite a way for writing about things without pulling any punches.”
Bethany Cosentino of Best Coast, who dates Wavves singer and guitarist Nathan Williams, told Metro last year that the hardest part of dating another musician in the spotlight is the public’s perception.
“It’s not like we were like, ‘Oh hey, we both play music, let’s start dating,’” she said. “We’ve known each other for five or six years.”
‘Rock Wit U’
Other musical couples still going strong:
Alicia Keys and Swizz Beatz
Ryan Adams and Mandy Moore
Jason Hammel and Kori Gardner of Mates of State
Ira Kaplan and Georgia Hubley of Yo La Tengo
Bruce Springsteen and Patti Scialfa
Elvis Costello and Diana Krall
