You don’t often see husband-and-wife duos, or similar partnerships, in the music world nowadays. But back in the day, quite a few famous rock couples made their respective bands even better. Who wouldn’t want to be in a band with your best friend, anyway? Let’s take a look at four instances of famous couples that made up famous rock bands!
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1. New Order
An extension of Joy Division, this Manchester post-punk group got big with the release of “Blue Monday” in 1983. After the death of Joy Division’s Ian Curtis a few years prior, the remaining band members decided to put together a sophomore version of Joy Division with New Order. Drummer Stephen Morris’ then-partner (now-wife) Gillian Gilbert was hired on to complete the lineup. It was a great idea, considering Gilbert is an incredible guitarist and keyboardist.
2. Siouxsie And The Banshees
Another example of famous rock couples in post-punk, Siouxsie And The Banshees was more on the gothic rock side of things than New Order. This particular famous outfit went through quite a few lineup changes through the years, the best lineup being singer Siouxsie Sioux, bassist Steven Severin, drummer Budgie, and guitarist John McGeoch. Sioux and Budgie eventually became a couple and that relationship kicked off what would be the band’s most successful era.
3. The White Stripes
One of the most famous examples of rock couples in the last few decades has to be The White Stripes. This garage rock outfit was composed exclusively of Jack and Meg White, though their relationship was a bit complicated for a while. The pair were high school sweethearts who got married pretty young, and subsequently divorced. Afraid no one would want to listen to a band made up of a divorced couple, they pretended to be siblings for a while. Oddly enough, their greatest musical works came out after they had divorced. The White Stripes broke up in 2011.
4. Wings
Famous rock couples don’t beat this dynamic duo. Paul McCartney and Linda McCartney made pretty incredible music together up until Linda’s tragic passing in 1998. The two recorded several albums together, most notably the incredible 1971 album Ram.
Photo by Jeremy Grayson/Radio Times via Getty Images
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