7 Musicians Who Have Been Married to the Same Person for Years
It can be challenging to maintain a relationship in the entertainment industry, but some musicians have been married to the same person for years. Here are seven artists who have been in the same relationship for decades.
1. Ringo Starr and Barbara Bach
Ringo Starr and Barbara Bach met in 1980 on the set of their film Caveman. They were both in relationships at the time and had been previously married, but they clicked. While Starr admitted that neither wanted to get married again, they wed in April 1981. Starr said that after surviving a car accident with Bach, he believed they were destined to be together.
Starr and Bach have remained married for over 40 years.
2. Bruce Springsteen and Patti Scialfa
Bruce Springsteen and Pattie Scialfa grew up near each other in New Jersey, but they didn’t meet until the early 1980s. Springsteen saw Scialfa performing at a bar and complimented her. They became friends, and Scialfa joined the E Street Band in 1984.
After Springsteen and his first wife, Julianne Phillips, divorced in 1989, he began a relationship with Scialfa. They married in 1991 and continue to perform together after 32 years of marriage.
“When she comes onstage with the E Street Band she’s an E Street band member, and when we walk offstage we’re husband and wife,” Springsteen told Variety in 2017.
3. Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne
Ozzy Osbourne began a relationship with his manager, Sharon Arden, in 1979. In 1982, when Osbourne and his first wife, Thelma Riley, divorced, the couple married.
The couple faced a number of ups and downs in their marriage and even separated in 2016 amid rumors Osbourne had an affair. Ultimately, though, they reconciled and renewed their vows in 2017. They have been married for 41 years.
4. Elton John and David Furnish
In 1993, Elton John told friends he wanted to meet new people, so he had them invite guests to his house for dinner. One of these guests was David Furnish, and the pair connected right away.
“I was attracted to David immediately,” John told Parade. “He had a real job, his own apartment, a car. He was independent. I didn’t need to take care of him. I thought, ‘God, this is new territory for me — someone wants to be with me just because he likes me.'”
They began a relationship soon after and, in 2005, entered into a civil partnership. They married in 2014 when same-sex marriage became legal in the United Kingdom. In all, they have been together for 30 years.
5. Dolly Parton and Carl Dean
In 1964, just after graduating from high school, Dolly Parton moved to Nashville to pursue a career in music. On her first day in the city, she met Carl Dean outside a laundromat. They married in 1966 after two years of dating and have been together ever since. Parton rarely talks about her relationship — so much so that some people aren’t aware of Dean’s existence — which works well for the couple, who have been married for 57 years.
“I’ve known how to keep my husband private,” she told Today. “It’s just natural to me to protect the things and the people I love and to protect my own privacy.”
6. Bono and Alison Hewson
Bono and his wife, Alison Hewson, met as high school students and began dating in 1976, the same year U2 became a band. They married in 1982 and have been happily wedded for 41 years.
“There’s something about knowing that you’re going against the odds,” he told The New Yorker, via Us Magazine. “But I would say if you ask me seriously, friendship can outpace romantic love, sometimes. And friendship is what myself and Ali have. When you have romantic love and friendship, that’s really something special.”
7. Keith Richards and Patti Hansen
Keith Richards met supermodel Patti Hansen at Studio 54 in 1979. Several months later, they saw each other again at Richards’ birthday party and began a relationship. Richards said he fell in love with her at first sight, but they didn’t marry until 1983, after he proposed to her several times. They have been happily married for 40 years.
“When Patti and I met, it was just . . . boom,” he told Vanity Fair. “There was life before Patti and life after. We just clicked, and she rescued me from, shall we say, dark periods … without going into too much detail.”
