Have there been any rock stars who were monogamous during their entire career?

[Argent Towers]

I am a pretty firm believer in the idea that human males are not naturally monogamous, and that almost any man who is in a position to have easy sex with many different women without working very hard at it will do so. The best example of this is rock stars: it's considered basically a given that a man who becomes a successful rock musician will have unprecedented access to sex with however many women he wants. We live in a society where many women offer themselves sexually to men who are rich, famous or both, and rock stars as well as satisfying both of those criteria also often (though not always) have sex appeal to women outside of merely their success.

The result is that pretty much any red-blooded heterosexual male rock star who has women throwing themselves at him will take advantage of this situation and sleep with a lot of them. Let's face it, having sex with a new person is exciting. Possibly the most exciting kind of sex there is. What man wouldn't want to be able to experience this over and over and over with as many different women as he could? The sexual exploits of rock musicians, whether they're from the '60s, '70s, '80s, '90s or today, are famous and much-celebrated.

So have there been any rock stars who, despite the groupies offering themselves after every show, have actually managed to be completely monogamous and faithful to one steady girlfriend or wife over the course of an entire career? Even if someone was married several different times or went through various girlfriends, if he was sexually exclusive with only that one woman during the time they were together, he would qualify. Does anyone know if any rock star has resisted the temptations of the lifestyle and stuck with one partner at a time?

ETA: The definition of "rock star" is obviously up for debate. I'll say in this case it's someone who is well known enough that the average music fan has heard of him, and well known enough or part of a famous enough band that he wouldn't have to work very hard at seducing women.

[wedgehed]

Buddy Holly?

uh..........

Pat Boone?

[rhubarbarin]

Donny Osmund.

[Maggie the Ocelot]

I've heard that Paul & Linda McCartney never spent a night apart the entire time they were married. Not sure if it's true, or if he just snuck some in on the side when she wasn't around, but it's a possibility at least.

[pravnik]

Frank Zappa was married to Gail Zappa from 1967 until his death in 1993, and had four children with her, and there's no indication he was anything but faithful to her. He more or less eschewed the sex and drugs aspect of the rock and roll lifestyle.

[Chronos]

Everything you say about rock stars would also apply to professional athletes, and I'm pretty sure I've heard of several of them who were monogamous.

And sticking to musicians, wasn't John Lennon more-or-less faithful to Yoko Ono? At least, I've never heard otherwise.

[Dewey Finn]

Obviously, we can't know for sure, but Charlie Watts is reputed to have never slept with the groupies.

[MPB in Salt Lake]

And sticking to musicians, wasn't John Lennon more-or-less faithful to Yoko Ono? At least, I've never heard otherwise.

Have you ever heard of John Lennon's "Lost Weekend" period?

He was most certainly NOT monogamous with Yoko Ono. (feel free to insert any "Well, who WOULD be faithful to Yoko Ono?" jokes here.......

[Argent Towers]

As an aside, isn't it krazy that we live in a world where the only way for a man to fulfill his biologically hard-wired destiny is to become either a rock star, a pro athlete, or a multi-millionaire?

[alphaboi867]

...We live in a society where many women offer themselves sexually to men who are rich, famous or both,...

Has there ever been a society where that wasn't the case?

[thelurkinghorror]

Have you ever heard of John Lennon's "Lost Weekend" period?

He was most certainly NOT monogamous with Yoko Ono. (feel free to insert any "Well, who WOULD be faithful to Yoko Ono?" jokes here.......

He certainly wasn't when with Cynthia. See "Norwegian Wood."

As far as the OPs premise, many people are willingly monogamous, and I don't think it can be discarded on a hunch. Proponents of this theory often point to the animal kingdom, but there are many examples (although much rarer than polygamy) of monogamous species. A lot of the research on this relies on evolutionary psychology BS, so it's hard to find clear results.

[RealityChuck]

I've heard that Paul & Linda McCartney never spent a night apart the entire time they were married. Not sure if it's true, or if he just snuck some in on the side when she wasn't around, but it's a possibility at least.But in the early career (after the Beatles hit it big), Paul was with Jane Asher, and also entertained groupies. John also was pretty much sleeping around, even though he was married. They both settled down later, though.

Zappa also had an affair with Alice Stuart in the early days. Stuart says they were quite compatible emotionally, but were completely incompatible musically (she was more into traditional blues and has had a modest success as a solo artist). Zappa claims he fired her because she couldn't play "Louie, Louie," but that appears to be a joke.

Loudon Wainwright III doesn't appear to have any affairs, though his first marriage did break up.

[Blank Slate]

Bono started dating Alison Stewart in 1975 and they have been married since 1982. No idea if either have been completely faithful but I never heard otherwise. Unless The Sweetest Thing was about an affair.

[Robot Arm]

Proponents of this theory often point to the animal kingdom, but there are many examples (although much rarer than polygamy) of monogamous species.Geese mate with a single partner for life, but when they have sex they still fantasize about other geese.

[Koxinga]

He certainly wasn't when with Cynthia. See "Norwegian Wood."

Heck, see "Yoko Ono."

[Fried Dough Ho]

Ringo has been married to Barbara for over 30 years...

[Guinastasia]

Bono started dating Alison Stewart in 1975 and they have been married since 1982. No idea if either have been completely faithful but I never heard otherwise. Unless The Sweetest Thing was about an affair.

No, it was about him forgetting her birthday (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sweetest_Thing_%28song%29):


The song was reportedly written by Bono as an apology to his wife Ali Hewson for having to work in the studio on her birthday during The Joshua Tree sessions. At Alison's request, profits from the single went to her favoured charity, Chernobyl Children's Project International.



And John Lennon had an affair during his marriage to Yoko that was arranged by Yoko herself, believe it or not.

[Snowboarder Bo]

Zappa also had an affair with Alice Stuart in the early days. Stuart says they were quite compatible emotionally, but were completely incompatible musically (she was more into traditional blues and has had a modest success as a solo artist). Zappa claims he fired her because she couldn't play "Louie, Louie," but that appears to be a joke.

Zappa wasn't married when he met Alice Stuart, tho. He and Kay Sherman divorced in 1964. He met Alice in 1965. And Frank and Gail were married in 1967.

[fuzzypickles]

The three members of Rush were pretty square. Even while on tour with KISS in the mid-70s, they would join the backstage groupie parties and "watch, but not participate" (according to Gene Simmons.)

[Drain Bead]

Jon Bon Jovi married his high school sweetheart and claims he's never cheated on her.

[thirdname]

I knew a guy who knew a guy who worked on Capitol Hill, who said that Al Gore was the only politician in DC who was faithful to his wife.

[lawoot]

Frank Zappa was married to Gail Zappa from 1967 until his death in 1993, and had four children with her, and there's no indication he was anything but faithful to her. He more or less eschewed the sex and drugs aspect of the rock and roll lifestyle.

Besides Alice Stuart, there was also Nigey Lennon, who claims to have had an affair with Frank, to the point of rooming with him on the 200 Motels tour. She even wrote a book about it. (http://www.amazon.com/Being-Frank-My-Time-Zappa/dp/187939541X)

Not to mention Moon's description of her dad as 'a monk... a monk with a taste for Groupies.'

[Edward The Head]

Dee Snider (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dee_Snider) of Twisted Sister fame has been married to the same woman since 1981. I've never heard anything bad about his personal life.

[Hal Briston]

Heck, see "Yoko Ono."Really, I'd rather not.

[WhyNot]

It's an interesting question (which, of course, can never be definitively answered) but I'd beware of making a broader generalization re: monogamy and men based on the lives of rock stars. Rock stars, by definition, are people who thrive on attention, and therefore might be assumed to have a higher rate of infidelity than mere mortals who have no desire to be screamed at by crowds or admired by beautiful people.

In other words, saying, "Every man would have sex with many women if he could get them, look at rock stars," assumes that every man would be a rock star and live that sort of lifestyle if he could. Rock stars want to live like rock stars; many men would hate it and feel much happier with one woman, one car and one office to go to work to everyday.

(Yes, I still identify as poly by my nature, although I'm in and intend to stay in a monogamous relationship. I don't believe there's only one "natural" state for sexuality, though, and see no reason there should be. I don't like "nature" arguments for polyamory any more than I do for homosexuality.)

[Leaffan]

Jon Bon Jovi married his high school sweetheart and claims he's never cheated on her.

I thought we were talking about rock stars?



;)

[Annie-Xmas]

George Harrison was supposedly faithful to Patti until he decided to sleep with Ringo's wife Maureen. When asked why, he said "Incest."

He apparently was faithful to second wife Olivia until his death.

[PunditLisa]

I am a pretty firm believer in the idea that human males are not naturally monogamous, and that almost any man who is in a position to have easy sex with many different women without working very hard at it will do so.

Wait a minute. You're trying to prove your theory that human males are not naturally monogamous by asking whether men in the most unnatural circumstances have ever remained monogamous? :dubious:

If that's your method of proving your point, then I'd like to open up a poll of my own so that I can refute your conclusions. It'll target morbidly obese unemployed ex-cons who still live in their parent's basements.

Sound fair?

Note: 99% of males are not (Presidents of powerful nations, rock stars, pro athletes, famous actors, etc), and are therefore not candidates for "easy sex."
If you really want data to back your notion that "human males are not naturally monogamous," I think you'd have far more credibility if you didn't focus on the 1% who are statistical anomolies.

[kunilou]

I knew a guy who knew a guy who worked on Capitol Hill, who said that Al Gore was the only politician in DC who was faithful to his wife.

Yet Al and Tipper still broke up, which proves -- well, I guess it doesn't really prove anything.

[kenobi 65]

I've heard that Paul & Linda McCartney never spent a night apart the entire time they were married. Not sure if it's true, or if he just snuck some in on the side when she wasn't around, but it's a possibility at least.

McCartney spent 10 days in a Japanese jail in 1980 after being caught with marijuana in his luggage. So, I'd imagine that those would count as "nights apart", even if his only chance at groupies in that case would have been Japanese men. :D

[filling_pages]

Buddy Holly?


You were probably going for a joke here, but Buddy Holly was only married for the last 6 months or so of his life. Maria, his wife, went on tour with him, so he didn't exactly have much of a chance to show if he'd be monogamous or not in the long run.

That being said, before he married he seemed to have taken up the offers of many a groupie. I've even heard that he once had a threesome with a girl and Little Richard (they were on tour together), but that could be an urban legend.

[pravnik]

Besides Alice Stuart, there was also Nigey Lennon, who claims to have had an affair with Frank, to the point of rooming with him on the 200 Motels tour. She even wrote a book about it. (http://www.amazon.com/Being-Frank-My-Time-Zappa/dp/187939541X)

Not to mention Moon's description of her dad as 'a monk... a monk with a taste for Groupies.'In that case, I got nothin'.

[Shodan]

George Harrison was supposedly faithful to Patti until he decided to sleep with Ringo's wife Maureen. When asked why, he said "Incest."
I don't understand what this means. Hint?

Regards,
Shodan

[Maastricht]

Bono started dating Alison Stewart in 1975 and they have been married since 1982. No idea if either have been completely faithful but I never heard otherwise. ..IIRC, most of the band members of U2 usually had their wives and families with them on tour. Bono said it saved their marriages, and thus the stability of the band.

[astorian]

Obviously, we can't possibly know who's been perfectly faithful and who hasn't. All we can know is who's stayed married a long time.

We've already heard about Charlie Watts, Bono and Jon Bon Jovi.

One other name is Dennis De Young, lead singer of Styx, who's been married to Suzanne, his high school girlfriend, since 1970. Was he 100% faithful? Who knows- but some years back, I read an interview with Styx bassist Chuck Panozzo, who's openly gay. He was asked if it was weird to be around so many horny female groupies, and he said that was never really an issue with Styx, because most of the other guys in the band had gotten married young and usually brought their wives on tour with them. Chuck didn't seem to think anyone in the band except (single) Tommy Shaw was picking up groupies.

I've already told this story on other threads, but in the Sixties, Bill Wyman kept a log book showing how many girls each of the Rolling Stones had scored with. By the time he stopped keeping count, Brian Jones was the clear “winner,” with Wyman in second, and Mick/Keith neck and neck for third. But Wyman had a zero next to Watts’ name, because Watts didn’t play around.

Watts wasn’t a saint- he certainly had serious issues with booze and drugs. But his bandmates vouch that he was a faithful husband.

[astorian]

Dee Snider (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dee_Snider) of Twisted Sister fame has been married to the same woman since 1981. I've never heard anything bad about his personal life.

Every now and then, Dee likes to take a poke at Al and Tipper Gore, pointing out that, unike the Gores, the Sniders are still married, and none of their kids has ever been in trouble with the law.

[lindsaybluth]

As an aside, isn't it krazy that we live in a world where the only way for a man to fulfill his biologically hard-wired destiny is to become either a rock star, a pro athlete, or a multi-millionaire?

Methinks you are single and with a tenuous knowledge of history.

[Argent Towers]

Just celebrated my 5th anniversary...and have a bachelor's in history. Very wrong on both counts.

[Little Nemo]

Vince Furnier (aka Alice Cooper) has said that he has never cheated on his wife Sheryl (they married in 1976).

[Koxinga]

Every now and then, Dee likes to take a poke at Al and Tipper Gore, pointing out that, unike the Gores, the Sniders are still married, and none of their kids has ever been in trouble with the law.

Alice Cooper (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_Cooper#Personal_life) also seems to be a pretty square guy, married 30+ years, three kids, born again Christian. "In a 2002 television interview, Cooper claimed that he had "never cheated" on his wife in all the time they had been together. In the same interview, he also claimed that the secret to a lasting and successful relationship is to continue going out on dates with your partner."

[Koxinga]

Jinx! Buy me a Coke! (punches Little Nemo in the arm)

[Argent Towers]

And...in my study of history, the phenomenon of the parades of mistresses and concubines of so many of the most powerful men throughout the ages has swayed me towards thinking that in the majority of the time, a man who is sufficiently powerful will feed his urge for sexual promiscuity, regardless of the religious or social strictures around him. Rock stars to me fall into the same category of kings and emperors in history in terms of their influence and appeal. But the basic concept remains the same: man of power, status and wealth = easy availability of women.

I do believe that the majority of human males would have sex with many different women if they could. By "if they could" I mean both if they were able to attract these women to them sexually, and also if they could do so hypothetically without the objection of their wives or significant others. Many men would not want to cheat on their wives (although some obviously have no problem with it) but if this first category of men could, somehow, by some magical genie's command, have sex with a lot of different attractive women and have their wives not mind it, they would.

I do believe it is more or less hard wired into a male human's DNA to want to do this.

[MPB in Salt Lake]

Alice Cooper (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_Cooper#Personal_life) also seems to be a pretty square guy, married 30+ years, three kids, born again Christian.

Quick hijack

I know virtually nothing about Alice Cooper's life, music or religion, but isn't his whole schtick a faux-Satanic-possessed persona, with whole albums that are themed with such subjects as serial killers, various occult practices, human sacrifice, necrophillia, etc.?

How can that possibly jibe with being a practicing Christian?

I assume that the answer I will hear is that it's all an act, and he is merely playing a role, just like an actor who portrays an evil character, but to me it seems that it's almost impossible to square the two diametrically opposed parts of his life.

[Ogre]

And...in my study of history, the phenomenon of the parades of mistresses and concubines of so many of the most powerful men throughout the ages has swayed me towards thinking that in the majority of the time, a man who is sufficiently powerful will feed his urge for sexual promiscuity, regardless of the religious or social strictures around him. Rock stars to me fall into the same category of kings and emperors in history in terms of their influence and appeal. But the basic concept remains the same: man of power, status and wealth = easy availability of women.

I do believe that the majority of human males would have sex with many different women if they could. By "if they could" I mean both if they were able to attract these women to them sexually, and also if they could do so hypothetically without the objection of their wives or significant others. Many men would not want to cheat on their wives (although some obviously have no problem with it) but if this first category of men could, somehow, by some magical genie's command, have sex with a lot of different attractive women and have their wives not mind it, they would.

I do believe it is more or less hard wired into a male human's DNA to want to do this.

Can you please take this somewhere else? Your argument has diverged rather widely from the topic of the thread.

[Ogre]

Quick hijack

I know virtually nothing about Alice Cooper's life, music or religion, but isn't his whole schtick a faux-Satanic-possessed persona, with whole albums that are themed with such subjects as serial killers, various occult practices, human sacrifice, necrophillia, etc.?

How can that possibly jibe with being a practicing Christian?

I assume that the answer I will hear is that it's all an act, and he is merely playing a role, just like an actor who portrays an evil character, but to me it seems that it's almost impossible to square the two diametrically opposed parts of his life.

Why? Can't a Christian actor play a heinous monster in a movie or a TV show?

[Koxinga]

Quick hijack

I know virtually nothing about Alice Cooper's life, music or religion, but isn't his whole schtick a faux-Satanic-possessed persona, with whole albums that are themed with such subjects as serial killers, various occult practices, human sacrifice, necrophillia, etc.?

How can that possibly jibe with being a practicing Christian?

I assume that the answer I will hear is that it's all an act, and he is merely playing a role, just like an actor who portrays an evil character, but to me it seems that it's almost impossible to square the two diametrically opposed parts of his life.

I dunno; but maybe the defintion of a "practicing Christian" can encompass more than you suppose. If he's faithful to his family, treats other people the way he'd want to be treated and doesn't lie, cheat or steal, looks to me like he's already way ahead of a lot of ostentatious Bible thumpers out there.

[Leaffan]

Quick hijack

I know virtually nothing about Alice Cooper's life, music or religion, but isn't his whole schtick a faux-Satanic-possessed persona, with whole albums that are themed with such subjects as serial killers, various occult practices, human sacrifice, necrophillia, etc.?

How can that possibly jibe with being a practicing Christian?

I assume that the answer I will hear is that it's all an act, and he is merely playing a role, just like an actor who portrays an evil character, but to me it seems that it's almost impossible to square the two diametrically opposed parts of his life.

Alice Cooper is a stage act.

Vincent Furnier is a husband, father, golfer, and pretty decent guy.

[lindsaybluth]

Just celebrated my 5th anniversary...

Then you must be very unhappy.

Many men would not want to cheat on their wives (although some obviously have no problem with it) but if this first category of men could, somehow, by some magical genie's command, have sex with a lot of different attractive women and have their wives not mind it, they would.

Bolding mine. That's not what you said (or implied) to begin with, and it's 100% different. Hell, I'd have sex with multiple other dudes if my SO wouldn't mind it. But what stops me is if I did decide to have sex with other dudes I would suffer in my relationship with him and no longer be allowed to sleep with him. Worse, I'd lose his companionship. I think you underestimate how much this is a two-sided coin here.

Also hijack:

I was on a flight with Bono once and he was in the waiting area with the rest of us schlubs for an hour ahead of boarding. Now, he and I were off in a less-populated seating area virtually alone. I didn't even recognize him till I heard him start talking on his cell phone (I mean, who in Atlanta has an Irish accent?) The phone conversation was with his wife and was too cute for words. It's certainly not proof he's faithful but it certainly seemed he was inclined towards it.

[MPB in Salt Lake]

I dunno; but maybe the defintion of a "practicing Christian" can encompass more than you suppose. If he's faithful to his family, treats other people the way he'd want to be treated and doesn't lie, cheat or steal, looks to me like he's already way ahead of a lot of ostentatious Bible thumpers out there.

I actually agree with you, but his whole career seems to celebrate and glorify murder, Satanism, chaos and evil---I don't think that he is ACTUALLY a murderer, or an evil man, etc. but for his music to fixate on only those type subjects (which I will gladly acknowledge will sell a lot more albums than Born-Again Christian themed music would) seems impossible to reconcile.

If an actor refused to take on ANY roles except for evil, depraved monsters, for their entire acting career, I would have trouble believing that he was serious about being a Born Again Christian (or a observant Orthodox Jew or a practicing Muslim).


ETA---I am not looking for a serious debate, or trying to bash Alice Cooper, this is just something I have a bit of trouble wrapping my head around, and I assumed that Dopers would respond as you have so far.

Thanks for your input!!!!

[Argent Towers]

Bolding mine. That's not what you said (or implied) to begin with, and it's 100% different. Hell, I'd have sex with multiple other dudes if my SO wouldn't mind it. But what stops me is if I did decide to have sex with other dudes I would suffer in my relationship with him and no longer be allowed to sleep with him. Worse, I'd lose his companionship. I think you underestimate how much this is a two-sided coin here.

Could you please explain what exactly you think I said or implied to begin with? I'm having trouble understanding where you're coming from here. By "not monogamous" I did not necessarily mean "unfaithful." I also meant "not in a committed relationship with one person."

[Mississippienne]

Robert Smith of The Cure has been married to his wife for eons, and I've never heard a breath of scandal about them.

[China Guy]

Stevie Ray Vaughn and band toured with their wives at least once (this would have been, dunno, IIRC around 1980 or 81). I worked at a college radio station and Stevie Ray did an interview after a show. Radio station types all agreed Double Trouble were pretty boring becuase of the wives and no interest in going out and partying.

[FWIW, The Adam Ant after party was a wild full blown orgy]

[BMalion]

Rock star, schmock star, look at Steve and Edie!

[twickster]

Argent Towers, lindsaybluth, if you want to argue about the larger issues of men and monogamy, start a new thread in GD. This thread is for examples of men (apparently, I'm not seeing references to women) who remained faithful to their wives (ditto, contrariwise) for their entire rock careers. And no, Argent Towers, there's no loophole for hijacking just because you're the OP.

twickster, Cafe Society moderator

[Mr. Moto]

Stevie Ray Vaughn and band toured with their wives at least once (this would have been, dunno, IIRC around 1980 or 81). I worked at a college radio station and Stevie Ray did an interview after a show. Radio station types all agreed Double Trouble were pretty boring becuase of the wives and no interest in going out and partying.

[FWIW, The Adam Ant after party was a wild full blown orgy]

This changed. I saw SRV in December of 1986 at the Syria Mosque in Pittsburgh - this was only a month and a half after he finished rehab. He played perfectly, but looked like a wreck.

I saw him a couple more times before the crash. :(

[StusBlues]

I actually agree with you, but his whole career seems to celebrate and glorify murder, Satanism, chaos and evil---I don't think that he is ACTUALLY a murderer, or an evil man, etc. but for his music to fixate on only those type subjects (which I will gladly acknowledge will sell a lot more albums than Born-Again Christian themed music would) seems impossible to reconcile.

If an actor refused to take on ANY roles except for evil, depraved monsters, for their entire acting career, I would have trouble believing that he was serious about being a Born Again Christian (or a observant Orthodox Jew or a practicing Muslim).


ETA---I am not looking for a serious debate, or trying to bash Alice Cooper, this is just something I have a bit of trouble wrapping my head around, and I assumed that Dopers would respond as you have so far.

Thanks for your input!!!!


I think that Alice in his prime may have lived the debauched life you seem to be thinking of. He got married in 1976, which seems to have cooled him down a bit, and quit drinking in the mid-1980s, which probably cooled him off a lot. Considering this guy hasn't had a hit since 1973 (1974 if you count "Muscle of Love"), the timeline makes sense.

What DOESN'T make sense is his seeming admiration for socialism in Wayne's World and his subsequent endorsement of Sarah Palin recently. I guess one's a role and one's reality, but c'mon.

[Kilvert's Pagan]

Besides Alice Stuart, there was also Nigey Lennon, who claims to have had an affair with Frank, to the point of rooming with him on the 200 Motels tour. She even wrote a book about it. (http://www.amazon.com/Being-Frank-My-Time-Zappa/dp/187939541X)

Not to mention Moon's description of her dad as 'a monk... a monk with a taste for Groupies.'Frank Zappa was married to Gail Zappa from 1967 until his death in 1993, and had four children with her, and there's no indication he was anything but faithful to her. He more or less eschewed the sex and drugs aspect of the rock and roll lifestyle.Agreed about the drugs part ONLY. Gail came to town about 3 years ago and did a talk on campus which included a very interesting video interview of FZ. Not only does FZ freely discuss doing groupies, after the video Gail mentions "her husband's sexual practices" - almost offhandedly.

[Diogenes the Cynic]

Eddie Van Halen was reputed to have been faithful to Valerie throughout their marriage.

[Little Nemo]

I think that Alice in his prime may have lived the debauched life you seem to be thinking of. He got married in 1976, which seems to have cooled him down a bit, and quit drinking in the mid-1980s, which probably cooled him off a lot. Considering this guy hasn't had a hit since 1973 (1974 if you count "Muscle of Love"), the timeline makes sense.Even before he got married, he apparently had a relatively stable personal life. He had long-term relationships with girlfriends Christine Frka and Cindy Lang when his career was at its peak.

[pravnik]

Agreed about the drugs part ONLY. Gail came to town about 3 years ago and did a talk on campus which included a very interesting video interview of FZ. Not only does FZ freely discuss doing groupies, after the video Gail mentions "her husband's sexual practices" - almost offhandedly.Dude, you're way behind - post 22 already refuted me and had a book! :D

[fuzzypickles]

Quick hijack

I know virtually nothing about Alice Cooper's life, music or religion, but isn't his whole schtick a faux-Satanic-possessed persona, with whole albums that are themed with such subjects as serial killers, various occult practices, human sacrifice, necrophillia, etc.?

How can that possibly jibe with being a practicing Christian?
Snarky answer: Because Christians, by virtue of having faith in Christ, are automatically forgiven for any and all sins they commit. Alice Cooper could rape and murder 10,000 nuns and orphans and he would still go to heaven, whereas the most noble, altruistic Buddhist is doomed to burn in hell forever. Them's the breaks, sorry.

Less snarky answer: As others have said, it's an act. Some Christian sects may take umbrage with his stage antics, but obviously, Alice himself does not.

Similarly, Tom Araya of Slayer is a practicing Roman Catholic. In the documentary Metal: A Headbanger's Journey, he says the horror imagery of Slayer's music is mere fantasy, only a stage act, and doesn't conflict with his faith at all. (However, he did hem and haw when the interviewer asked why his new album was entitled God Hates Us All...)

[Miller]

I actually agree with you, but his whole career seems to celebrate and glorify murder, Satanism, chaos and evil---I don't think that he is ACTUALLY a murderer, or an evil man, etc. but for his music to fixate on only those type subjects (which I will gladly acknowledge will sell a lot more albums than Born-Again Christian themed music would) seems impossible to reconcile.

Try turning this around. If Cooper was an atheist, and a Christian suggested that it would be impossible for Cooper to be a decent, moral person given the kind of music he makes, what would be your reaction? Now, why would your reaction to that idea change because Cooper is a Christian? If it's possible for an atheist to write songs about murder, chaos, and evil without actually supporting those things, then it's equally possible for a Christan to write those songs without supporting them. Cooper's whole stage act is a goof. Just because someone is a Christian, it doesn't mean he can't have a sense of irony.

[Justin_Bailey]

Just celebrated my 5th anniversary...and have a bachelor's in history. Very wrong on both counts.

You've been married the entire time you've been a member here? Really?

I had no idea.

[Contrapuntal]

Eddie Van Halen was reputed to have been faithful to Valerie throughout their marriage.Not according to her. (http://www.theinsider.com/news/675929_Eddie_Van_Halen_s_Ex_Valerie_Bertinelli_Confesses_To_Couple_s_Affairs)

[tumbleddown]

Depending on your definition of "rock star" the motto of Simon LeBon from Duran Duran is "flirt, don't squirt." His wife (who was one of the original 80s supermodels) is known to come up and grab him by the scrotum and give a squeeze if she thinks he's taking the flirting too far. They've been married 25 years this month.

That jibes with my experience of him at after-concert parties, he flirts and leers (has a preference for cleavage-y blondes) but doesn't take anyone off in a dark corner and goes upstairs alone.

[FriarTed]

Pat Boone has admitted that early in his career as a pop star & before he became a Charismatic Christian he was unfaithful to his wife on occasion.

Vince Furnier has been a born-again Christian maybe 20 years now. When he made his commitment to Christ, he apparently had some concerns as to whether he should still portray Alice, but IIRC it was his father agreeing that it was like an actor doing a role & that Alice always got executed for his crimes at the end of the show which convinced Vince that he could keep up the act.

[Intergalactic Gladiator]

I actually agree with you, but his whole career seems to celebrate and glorify murder, Satanism, chaos and evil---I don't think that he is ACTUALLY a murderer, or an evil man, etc. but for his music to fixate on only those type subjects (which I will gladly acknowledge will sell a lot more albums than Born-Again Christian themed music would) seems impossible to reconcile.

If an actor refused to take on ANY roles except for evil, depraved monsters, for their entire acting career, I would have trouble believing that he was serious about being a Born Again Christian (or a observant Orthodox Jew or a practicing Muslim).


ETA---I am not looking for a serious debate, or trying to bash Alice Cooper, this is just something I have a bit of trouble wrapping my head around, and I assumed that Dopers would respond as you have so far.

Thanks for your input!!!!

Just because Cooper tried to get Kermit the Frog to sell his soul to the devil, doesn't make him a bad guy does it?

[Diogenes the Cynic]

The Alice Cooper character is theater. It's like Vincent Price or Christopher Lee playing horror characters. It's also campy and tongue in cheek. It's never serious. I don't see any contradiction between Furnier's stage act and his private faith. It's not like he's really advocating Satan worship or criminal behavior for real when he's on stage.

[StusBlues]

Even before he got married, he apparently had a relatively stable personal life. He had long-term relationships with girlfriends Christine Frka and Cindy Lang when his career was at its peak.

You forgot Raquel Welch.

Truth be told, it might not be so hard to be faithful if you were engaging in regular relations with the undisputed most attractive woman on the planet.

[Susanann]

Have there been any rock stars who were monogamous during their entire career?.

You mean like Frankie Avalon ?

[Kilvert's Pagan]

Dude, you're way behind - post 22 already refuted me and had a book! :DI know, I know - sorry for piling on. Gradually getting back into the SDMB after a long absence, and also wanted to share the story about Gail.

And Post #22 was done by Lawoot, my younger brother. So naturally I had to do the older-brother-one-up thing. :-)

[lawoot]

I know, I know - sorry for piling on. Gradually getting back into the SDMB after a long absence, and also wanted to share the story about Gail.

And Post #22 was done by Lawoot, my younger brother. So naturally I had to do the older-brother-one-up thing. :-)

Oh yeah? Well, Mom likes ME best!!! Neener, neener, neener! :D

[needscoffee]

lawoot and Kilvert's Pagan, no squabbling or both of you are going to have to stay in the Pit until bedtime!

[Quintas]

I was on a flight with Bono once and he was in the waiting area with the rest of us schlubs for an hour ahead of boarding.


I'm very surprised to hear Bono flies commercial.

I wonder why? If I were worth in excess of $100 million i'd sure charter a private flight to avoid waiting around the airport.

[pkd88]

I'm very surprised to hear Bono flies commercial.

I wonder why? If I were worth in excess of $100 million i'd sure charter a private flight to avoid waiting around the airport.

Perhaps he is thinking about his carbon footprint.

[lindsaybluth]

Sometimes it takes more time to charter a flight than to hop on the next commercial flight (our flight was notably not full). I can't imagine why otherwise; I don't buy the carbon footprint thing for a second.

[tumbleddown]

Perhaps he is thinking about his carbon footprint.
Doubtful. We're talking about a man who decided that he couldn't perform for a while without his little army drab military hat, but lost it. So before a concert the next night in Italy, had someone go buy a duplicate hat in Los Angeles, buy it a first class seat and had it flown in said seat to him in Italy. Not via a courier, he bought a commercial, same day, first class international seat for a $9 hat from an army/navy surplus store in Compton. Then a driver went to the airport to retrieve it for him in a limo.

[Le Ministre de l'au-delà]

Getting back to the OP, what about Randy Bachman? Throughout his time with the Guess Who, he and Burton Cummings were on opposite sides of the 'Sex, Drugs and Rock'n'Roll' philosophy. Randy was in favour of only one of those three, and Cummings seemed determined to take Randy's share of the sex and drugs.

At any rate, he has been married to Denise McCann since 1982. There's nothing I've found so far that indicates he had a thing for groupies while with any of his bands.

[Darryl Lict]

He's way too young to be in the running, but Brandon Flowers of the Killers is a Mormon and married his high school sweetheart. Most people, myself included, are surprised to find out the dude's a Mormon. He named his first kid Ammon after the Book of Mormon prophet, and states that religion is very important to him.

I'm assuming he's been faithful, but who knows.

[faithfool]

You forgot Raquel Welch.

Truth be told, it might not be so hard to be faithful if you were engaging in regular relations with the undisputed most attractive woman on the planet.

Supposedly, Raquel's fascination with Alice took place during his engagement to Sheryl and Alice simply rebuffed her advances.

Also, I'd heard over at the groupie boards on Metal Sludge that Jon Bon Jovi was not faithful to his wife, but it was seldom and discreet.

[Talon Karrde]

I think Tom Waits has been faithful to Kathleen Brennan while he's been married to her. Their marriage is very much like a partnership and he relies on her in a lot of ways.

[Bijou Drains]

Roger Daltrey has been married to his 2nd wife since the early 70s. Haven't heard of any groupie issues with him.

[Evil Captor]

I knew a guy who knew a guy who worked on Capitol Hill, who said that Al Gore was the only politician in DC who was faithful to his wife.

An anonymous guy on an Internet message board says he knew a guy who knows a guy! Stop the presses! I'm off to the Smoking Gun with this one!

[Lamia]

I don't think anyone has yet mentioned that for late '80s/early '90s alt rock musicians then sleeping with groupies was considered pretty uncool. How many of those guys were truly monogamous I don't know; it must have been easy enough for a rock star to pick up women in bars or whatever even if he wasn't sleeping with actual groupies. But several years back I do remember reading that according to Groupie Central then Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam and Matt Cameron of Soundgarden (and later of Pearl Jam) were lost causes -- they were devoted to their long-time ladies and any groupie hoping to score with either of them was wasting her time.

Vedder has been married twice, and I remember around the time of his divorce (late 2000) from his first wife there were some rumors that she'd left him because he was cheating. Within just a few months of his divorce the gossip columns were reporting that he was dating the woman who would later become wife #2, so given the timeline there's room to question whether he might have secretly been seeing #2 while he was still married to #1. But I'm a pretty big Pearl Jam fan and AFAIK these rumors of cheating didn't surface until after the divorce, and neither Vedder's first wife nor anyone else who knew them has ever publicly claimed that he was unfaithful to her. Even if one believes the worst of the gossip, Vedder's infidelity was limited to cheating on his first wife with the woman he's still with ten years later.

It was my impression that Kurt Cobain of Nirvana and Chris Cornell of Soundgarden were faithful to their respective wives, although Cobain was only married for about two years before his death. Cornell's wife Susan Silver was also Soundgarden's manager, so that presumably would have made infidelity trickier to pull off even if he'd wanted to. I know Cornell and his wife did eventually divorce (according to Wikipedia he has since remarried), but I don't know if adultery was an issue.

Roger Daltrey has been married to his 2nd wife since the early 70s. Haven't heard of any groupie issues with him.Daltrey has been quite open about the fact that he often slept with groupies. In the book The Who in Their Own Words he's quoted as saying he was lucky to have a wife who wasn't much bothered by this, which may explain why they've had one of the longest-lasting marriages in rock. I wouldn't be surprised if he'd been more faithful in recent years, if only because a man his age can't be expected to have the same stamina as a 20-something, but he definitely is not an example of a totally monogamous rock star.

[suspiciousminnd]

> 11-29-2010 08:17 PM Mississippienne
Robert Smith of The Cure has been married to his wife for eons, and I've never heard a breath of scandal about them. <

Sorry, newb here, so don't know how to use the quotation function, esp. on my iphone, so I'm just doing my best with gumption and glue, just like Mama taught me to!

--- A lot of groupies are as interested in keeping hook-ups discreet (or secret) as the musicians are. So "not hearing a breath of scandal" may not signify anything in particular.

Robert Smith, sweet man. Definitely 'samples the local fare' on tour when he feels so inclined. : )

[GreasyJack]

Morrissey (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morrissey#Sexuality) did them all one better by (allegedly) remaining entirely celibate.

[The Other Waldo Pepper]

I think that Alice in his prime may have lived the debauched life you seem to be thinking of. He got married in 1976, which seems to have cooled him down a bit, and quit drinking in the mid-1980s, which probably cooled him off a lot. Considering this guy hasn't had a hit since 1973 (1974 if you count "Muscle of Love"), the timeline makes sense.

This might be unfair in a zombie thread, but: after his "Welcome to My Nightmare" album came out in '75, and went platinum the way "Muscle of Love" didn't, he got a top twenty single in '76, and another in '77, and another in '78 -- all of which did better than any single he put out in '73 or '74, sure as he'd never had a single that did better than "Poison" in '89 (off yet another album that of course went platinum).

So I don't see why he'd lack opportunities after getting married in general, or after getting sober in particular; he just kept on keeping on, is all.

[faithfool]

I realize this is a zombie thread, but to go back to the hijack about Alice..... his act has never been the slightest but satanic. Also, he's always viewed the structure of his performances as a morality play with Alice getting his just comeuppance at the end. So, I'm assuming that's how he reconciles the two. Just saying.

[Animastryfe]

As an aside, isn't it krazy that we live in a world where the only way for a man to fulfill his biologically hard-wired destiny is to become either a rock star, a pro athlete, or a multi-millionaire?

No. You have yet to prove your premise that this "biologically hard-wired destiny" exists. Even if it does exist, you still have to support the argument that society should support this "destiny".

[tomcar]

Athletes and infidelity aren't necessarily synonymous. It's more likely in sports were there is a lot of travel like Pro Baseball or the NBA. There is very little travel in the NFL, so it isn't very likely.

[denquixote]

How about Cat Stevens?