Music History Events: Breakups and Divorces
April 12, 1993 Actress Lisa Bonet files for divorce from Lenny Kravitz, officially ending their six-year marriage (they separated in 1991). Their daughter, Zoe Kravitz, later becomes a very popular actress.
July 11, 1991 Longtime songwriting team Burt Bacharach and Carole Bayer Sager get divorced.
June 5, 1988 Pattie Boyd, ex-wife of George Harrison, files for divorce from Eric Clapton, who wrote the song "Layla" about her.
June 18, 1987 Bruce Springsteen separates from his wife, actress Julianne Phillips.
February 8, 1980 David Bowie and wife Angela are officially divorced, although they've been separated since the mid-'70s. David gets custody of their son Zowie.
December 2, 1979 Kris Kristofferson and Rita Coolidge's divorce is finalized.
November 5, 1979 Mick Jagger officially divorces his first wife, Bianca.
January 23, 1979 Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys divorces his wife Marilyn (one-time member of the Honeys and mother of Wendy and Carnie Wilson of Wilson Phillips).
January 16, 1979 Cher's divorce from Gregg Allman of The Allman Brothers becomes final.
October 6, 1978 ABBA members Benny and Anni-Frid split after three years of marriage. The group's other male-female pair had been married in 1971.
June 9, 1977 George and Pattie Harrison's divorce is finalized.
March 1, 1977 Bob Dylan's wife, Sara Lowndes - the "Sad Eyed Lady Of The Lowlands" - files for divorce. The couple have been separated for years.
December 29, 1975 Grace Slick and Paul Kantner of Jefferson Airplane break up after living together for seven years. Slick marries the band's lighting engineer the next year.
July 17, 1975 The divorce between Ringo Starr and Maureen Cox is finalized in London. Starr marries Barbara Bach in 1981.
July 10, 1975 Gregg Allman and Cher's famously rocky marriage almost ends in divorce after only 10 days, but Cher changes her mind three weeks later and the couple tough it out for a few more years, officially divorcing in 1979.
July 1, 1975 Ringo Starr divorces his first wife, Maureen.
June 26, 1975 Sonny & Cher's divorce becomes final.
February 20, 1974 Cher files for divorce from Sonny. The famous pair had been putting on a happy front for the public for the past two years until Sonny finally filed for a separation, citing "irreconcilable differences." A week later, Cher files for divorce, claiming "involuntary servitude" due to Sonny allegedly withholding her earnings.
February 4, 1974 John Lennon begins his "Lost Weekend," which lasts 18 months. Separating from Yoko, he goes on an extended bender, often joined by his friend Nilsson.
October 11, 1973 The divorce between Elvis and Priscilla Presley is finalized. The two remain close friends and walk out of the Santa Monica courthouse arm in arm.
November 18, 1970 After 13 years of marriage, Jerry Lee Lewis divorces Myra Gale Brown, the daughter of his bass-player cousin who was just 13 when they wed. She later claims that they spent just three nights together during their marriage. Lewis takes up abstinence and sobriety, but abandons that lifestyle after a few months.
August 29, 1969 Bob Seger divorces his first wife after only ten months of marriage.
November 8, 1968 John Lennon's wife, Cynthia, is granted a divorce on grounds of his adultery with Yoko Ono, who is carrying his child. Yoko suffers a miscarriage a few weeks later.
July 20, 1968 Paul McCartney's fiancee, Jane Asher, goes on the BBC TV show Dee Time and announces that she and Paul have broken off their engagement.
March 7, 1967 Sandra Dee and Bobby Darin officially divorce after six years of marriage.
March 6, 1964 Eddie Fisher and Elizabeth Taylor divorce.
May 13, 1958 Six months after marrying his third wife, 13-year-old second cousin Myra Gale Brown, Jerry Lee Lewis is finally granted a divorce from his second wife, Jane Mitcham.
September 4, 1957 Jerry Lee Lewis files for divorce from his second wife (he marries cousin Myra three months later, before it's final.)
June 14, 1957 Ava Gardner divorces Frank Sinatra.
July 8, 1946 Ava Gardner divorces bandleader Artie Shaw after one year of marriage. Her next husband is Frank Sinatra.
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