They frequently have a reputation for boozing, partying, and breaking hearts, but sometimes musicians settle down and get married. We spotted a great wedding photo of The Velvet Underground’s John Cale marrying designer Betsey Johnson on Dangerous Minds that inspired us to track down other snapshots of musicians who tied the knot. See what they wore, the traditions they broke, and the lucky (or unlucky) partners they got hitched to, below.
[via]
The Velvet Underground’s John Cale and fashion designer Betsey Johnson tied the knot in 1968. “Betsey was a strong individual character,” Cale said of his ex-wife in his memoir. “When she started showing up at all the VU gigs because she could afford to, I really admired her… It seemed to me that Betsey knew everybody I knew, and she was living at the Chelsea Hotel. It was a match made in heaven.”
[via]
[via]
[via]
Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love were married on Waikiki Beach in Hawaii at the end of Nirvana’s Pacific Rim tour in 1992. Love’s satin dress was previously owned by troubled actress Frances Farmer. Cobain wore pajamas. In a 1992 interview, an elated Cobain talked about his engagement:
“In the last couple months, I’ve gotten engaged and my attitude has changed drastically, and I can’t believe how much happier I am. At times I even forget that I’m in a band, I’m so blinded by love. I know that sounds embarrassing, but it’s true. I could give up the band right now. It doesn’t matter, but I’m under contract.”
[via]
[via]
[via]
Marilyn Manson and Dita Von Teese got hitched at Gurteen Castle, the home of artist and friend Gottfried Helnwein. Director Alejandro Jodorowsky officiated the wedding in Holy Mountain-style garb. Their Vivienne Westwood and John Galliano outfits got them a spread in Vogue.
Stevie Nicks married the widower of her best friend Robin Anderson who died of leukemia and left an infant son behind. Not wanting Robin’s child to grow up without a mother, she took the plunge. The marriage only lasted three months.
[via]
Roxy Music’s Bryan Ferry is currently married to Amanda Sheppard — his son’s 29-year-old ex-girlfriend. In 1982, the singer wed model and London socialite Lucy Helmore (above). They had four sons together. Helmore appears on the cover of Avalon in a helmet, carrying a falcon.
[via]
[via]
[via]
Bowie and Iman in 1992 with special guests that included Yoko Ono, Bono, and Brian Eno.
[via]
[via]
Mary Poole met Robert Smith at school when they were both teenagers.
[via]
[via]
Country lovebirds Johnny Cash and June Carter married in 1968. Cash proposed to her during a live performance.
[via]
When Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore were still happy in 1984 at their Connecticut wedding.
[via]
[via]
[via]
Elvis met Priscilla Beaulieu when she was 14. They married seven years later in their suite at the Aladdin Hotel in Las Vegas. The ceremony was attended by few guests and featured a $10,000 breakfast reception and press conference.
[via]
Peggy Lee’s 1953 wedding (the first of four) at her Los Angeles home. She married tough guy actor Brad Dexter.
[via]
[via]
Ozzy and Sharon in Hawaii, 1982.
[via]
Trent Reznor and Mariqueen Maandig married in 2009. (Ignore the obnoxious hearts.)
[via]
[via]
[via]
[via]
The four weddings of Frank Sinatra: Nancy Barbato, Ava Gardner, Mia Farrow, and Barbara Marx.
[via]
[via]
That time Jerry Lee Lewis married his 13-year-old cousin.
[via]
“We’re really proud of our marriage. It’s the first for both of us. And the last,” Dolly Parton once said of her 47-year marriage to Carl Thomas Dean. They met at the at the Wishy-Washy Laundromat in Nashville.
[via]
Lucille Buchanan Wilson was Louis Armstrong’s fourth wife. She was a dancer. “When I first saw her in the line at the Cotton Club [in 1938], she was the darkest girl on the line… Lucille was the first black girl to crack the high yellow or brown bag color standard that was used to pick girls for the chorus,” Armstrong once recalled.
[via]
[via]
Mick Jagger opted for a Hindu beach ceremony in Indonesia with longtime partner Jerry Hall in 1990.
[via]
The 1969 wedding of John Lennon and Yoko Ono was a casual affair. The bride wore a white mini dress, her signature floppy hat, and sunglasses. Apparently Zsa Zsa Gabor said they looked as though they were “going to hold up a bank.” Shortly after the ceremony, they released a series of lithographs, Bag One, depicting scenes from their honeymoon and the Bed-In for World Peace. Scotland Yard confiscated the prints, calling the artworks indecent.
[via]
A 19-year-old Ian Curtis just married to Deborah Woodruff in 1975.
[via]
Siouxsie and Budgie shared wedded bliss in 1991.
[via]
The Madonna and Sean Penn wedding was a media sensation. Guests had to call a secret phone number shortly before the ceremony in order to find out where to show up.
[via]
[via]
Tommy Lee and Heather Locklear stole all the hair and 1980s for their wedding.
[via]
Prince married his backup singer and dancer Mayte Garcia on Valentine’s Day in 1996.
[via]
[via]
Beyoncé married Jay-Z in 2008, but the extremely private couple didn’t share any photos until Bey’s video for “I Was Here.” There’s a quick shot of the dramatic dress she wore.