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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.)