In Hollywood, there are a few romantic trends and tropes we will see over and over again. Couples who used to be co-stars, couples who pack on PDA on red carpets, couples who don’t talk about each other unless it’s an acceptance speech, and so on. One of the most famous ones, for example, is the trend that models and rock stars will always be forming couples here and there.
Over the years, we’ve gotten more than our fair share of photos of rock stars and their model girlfriends stumbling out of nightclubs, posing on red carpets and walking around music festivals. These stylish duos often personify the girl-next-door meets bad-boy trope that has existed in romantic comedies for as long as we can remember.
Just like with Christie Brinkley and Billy Joel, there’s something about the modeling and rock ‘n’ roll pipeline that just works (at least for some time). Plus, they can inspire some iconic rock songs when they’re in love too (Yes, we’re talking about “Uptown Girl!”). In true celebrity fashion, Brinkley and Joel met while they were both vacationing on the Caribbean island of St. Bart’s in early 1983. What followed was a whirlwind romance for the ages before they eventually met a heartbreaking end.
Then, there are models like Kate Moss whose romances with various rock stars played out on the covers of tabloid magazines thanks to their allegedly tumultuous relationships and more breakups than any rock star could write a song about.
Considering we’ve been seeing these romances play out since the 60s, it is safe to say that the rock star and model union will continue for many years to come. And, honestly, we’re not complaining because no one does a paparazzi photo better than these duos. And while many of these couples aren’t together to this day, it’s safe to say many of them took Hollywood by storm when their on-and-off relationships were in full swing.
To check out some model-rock star relationships over the years you might’ve forgotten about, scroll below!
Paulina Porizkova & Ric Ocasek
After meeting on the set of a music video, The Car’s frontman Ric Ocasek and supermodel Paulina Porizkova were a done deal. The pair married in 1989 and welcomed sons Jonathan in 1993 and Oliver in 1998.
After being together for almost three decades, Porizkova and Ocasek announced their amicable separation.
In 2019, while Porizkova cared for Ocasek as he battled heart disease, the rock star passed away.
Christie Brinkley & Billy Joel
Billy Joel and Christie Brinkley were quite a powerhouse couple after meeting in 1986.
“I recognized her immediately,” Joel said of meeting the model for the first time, per Rolling Stone. “She was more beautiful than she was in her pictures — ‘Oh, wow, that’s Christie Brinkley. I wonder if she knows who I am.’ So I did what I call an album cover — I tried to look like me on an album cover. I gave it every angle I could. She didn’t recognize me from a hole in the wall.”
At the beginning of their relationship, Joel dedicated his iconic song “Uptown Girl” to Brinkley.
In 1985, they married on a yacht and had their daughter, now 38-year-old Alexa, later that year. In 1993, Brinkley and Joel announced their separation. Their divorce was finalized in 1995.
George Harrison & Patti Boyd
While model Patti Boyd and Beatles member George Harrison were together for 11 years, their relationship was anything but straightforward. The two first met in 1964 and got married less than two years later in 1966.
Throughout their relationship, Boyd and Harrison repeatedly cheated on each other, including Boyd’s relationship with fellow rock star Eric Clapton and Harrison’s relationship with Ringo Starr’s wife, Maureen Starkey Tigrett.
In 1974, Boyd filed for divorce.
“It was an extremely difficult decision of mine to make,” she told The Telegraphof their split in 2022. “I felt that I had to leave George because things were getting really out of hand. George was just being a different George. We had gone in different directions, basically. But we still loved each other… It’s just that I think he wanted to spread his wings and take advantage of being the handsome, famous, rich guy that he was, and see how the girls feel about him.”
Three years later, their divorce was finalized.
Pattie Boyd & Eric Clapton
After splitting from Harrison, Boyd began a relationship with her former lover Eric Clapton. The two married in 1979.
According to Boyd, however, Clapton’s drug addiction only spiraled after tying the knot. “Yeah,” Boyd told The Guardian. “we never had weekends.”
After years of infidelity and drug use, Boyd and Clapton split in 1987.
“Well, I was no longer Mrs Famous George, or Mrs Famous Eric, so who am I?” she reflected to the outlet. “I am no-one. No-one knows me – I don’t even know me. I was at a critical point in my life, and so I saw a psychotherapist who was quite wonderful. She was amazing. She guided me out of this mire of despond and gradually I learned to believe in myself.”
Iman & David Bowie
Iman and David Bowie were a rock star-model love story for the ages. When the pair first met in 1990, Bowie was smitten.
“My attraction to her was immediate and all-encompassing,” the “Ziggy Stardust” singer told Hello! “I couldn’t sleep for the excitement of our first date. That she would be my wife, in my head, was a done deal. I’d never gone after anything with such passion in all my life. I just knew she was the one.”
The supermodel, however, was a little hesitant. “I was not ready for a relationship,” she told The Guardian. “Definitely I didn’t want to get into a relationship with somebody like him. But as I always said: I fell in love with David Jones. I did not fall in love with David Bowie. Bowie is just a persona. He’s a singer, an entertainer. David Jones is a man I met.”
The pair had a wedding ceremony in Switzerland and in Italy in 1992. Eight years later, they welcomed their daughter, Alexandria Zahra Jones.
In 2016, Bowie sadly passed away from liver cancer.
“I will never remarry,” Iman told Porter in 2018. “I mentioned my husband the other day with someone, and they said to me: ‘You mean your late husband?’ I said, ‘No, he is always going to be my husband.'”
Kate Moss & Pete Doherty
Kate Moss and Pete Doherty’s relationship once took over headlines, so it might be hard for many of us to forget.
The Libertines frontman met the iconic model in 2005 and they were on-and-off until 2007 when they broke off their brief engagement.
“We were attracted to each other,” Doherty told The Guardian in 2022. “I really loved her, and I knew she loved me – there was just all this messiness in between us, with all her chaos and my chaos.”
“Sometimes we just needed to see each other,” he added, noting they’re friends to this day. “Basically, she’d click her fingers and I’d come running.”
Jamie Hince & Kate Moss
Speaking of Moss, the British model moved on from Doherty with another rocker, The Kills’ Jamie Hince. The duo met in 2007 and got married in 2011.
Four years later, in 2015, Moss and Hince split. At the time, reports speculated infidelity on both sides, including Moss’s relationship with Nikolai von Bismarck.
“[Hince] is unlikely to go for Kate’s money, as he is financially secure and not that sort of person,” a source told Daily Mail at the time. “Kate’s not doing anything about a divorce. She is too busy having fun and spending time with Nikolai.”
In 2016, their divorce was finalized. Moss has been with Bismarck since then.
Cara Delevingne & Annie Clark (aka St. Vincent)
Cara Delevingne and Annie Clark (who sings under the name St. Vincent) were together for only 18 months before their split in the summer of 2016.
While the two kept their relationship private, Clark did suggest that the model might’ve inspired some of her songs.
“I’ve always kept my writing close to the vest,” she told The Guardian. “And by that I mean I’m always gonna write about my life. I can’t help but be living and also taking notes on what’s going on, always trying to figure out how to put that into a song.”
“I can only write about my life, and that – dating Cara – was a big part of my life,” she added. “I wouldn’t take it off-limits, just because my songs might get extra scrutiny. People would read into them what they would, and you know what? Whatever they thought they found there would be absolutely right. And at the same time, it would be absolutely wrong.”
Mick Jagger & Jerry Hall
When Mick Jagger and Jerry Hall first met, their connection was undeniable.”[Her ex Bryan Ferry] could also see that Mick was smitten with me. It couldn’t have been nice for him,” Hall wrote in her 2010 autobiography Jerry Hall: My Life in Pictures, per InStyle.
Jagger and Hall began their relationship in 1979, got married in 1990 and what followed was a few turbulent years. In addition to affairs from both sides, including with fellow model Carla Bruni, the pair also welcomed four kids: Elizabeth, James, Georgia May, and Gabriel.
In 1992, Hall had her last straw when Jagger announced he was expecting a baby, now 25-year-old Lucas Jagger, with another woman, Brazilian model-turned-presenter Luciana Gimenez.
Given that their Bali wedding wasn’t valid in the US, the pair got an annulment instead of a divorce. “I didn’t like the idea of annulling after 23 years and four children,” Hall later told The Guardian. “It seemed a bit rude.”
Karen Elson & Jack White
Karen Elson and Jack White were together for eight years before calling it quits in 2013.
“Every divorce has its challenging moments. We first tried to do the Goopy conscious-uncoupling thing,” the model admitted to Harper’s Bazaar after their split, per The Independent. “That all fell on its head, but now I can wholeheartedly say that my ex-husband is a dear friend and someone I love.”
Together, the pair welcomed their kids, 18-year-old Scarlett and 16-year-old Henry.
“I look at him and think ‘You’re my family’. I know him as ‘Dad’ – I roll my eyes at his dad jokes and I offer him advice when our teenagers are giving him grief,” she continued. “Our relationship is purely that of parents.”
Stephanie Seymour & Axl Rose
Stephanie Seymour and Axl Rose of Guns n’ Roses were together for only two years, but their relationship was as bumpy as it gets.
After meeting in 1991 and getting engaged in 1993, the pair quickly separated because Rose sued Seymour claiming she stole money and jewelry and beat him at a 1992 Christmas party, per Insider. Seymour then countersued, saying Rose beat her instead. They settled the matter in court in 1994.
“Getting involved with Axl Rose? Clearly a mistake,” she told Harper’s Bazaar in 2014. “It taught me a lot, though. He was a violent person, and I realized I never wanted to be around that again. The thrill of the whole rock ‘n’ roll thing wore off. I saw the worst of that world and it soured me.”
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