Is This The End Of Sonic Youth: Kim and Thurston Split

Thurston and Kim in happier times (via)

Psychic hearts no more: the coolest couple in the world, Sonic Youth's Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore, announced that they were separating after 27 years of marriage, putting the future of the long-running alternative band in jeopardy. At the very end of Sonic Youth's Williamsburg Waterfront concert in August, Moore left the crowd with this final benediction: "Anything is possible through the power of love."

In a statement released through their label Matador Records, they said: "Musicians Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore, married in 1984, are announcing they have separated. Sonic Youth, with both Kim and Thurston involved, will proceed with its South American tour dates in November. Plans beyond that tour are uncertain. The couple has requested respect for their personal privacy and does not wish to issue further comment."

The band has five dates for that South American tour scheduled in November. The couple have a 17-year-old daughter, Coco, who fronts a band of her own called Big Nils. In a 2008 SPIN interview, Moore was asked about the secret to his "famously great marriage:"

There's no secret. We've never sold each other out on anything. I can easily follow the allure of wanting to go out and be with the boys, and play industrial noise and smoke pot and drink, but nothing replaces the reality of our relationship. I can't trade that for anything. I can't think of how or where I'd be without Kim's influence. And we're like any couple that's been together for close to 30 years. There's a genuine psychophysical connection. Sometimes I feel things happening in me, and I know that something's going on with her. When you're married and you have that kind of connection, you become really spiritually, psychologically connected. We grew up together, in a way.

Below, you can listen/watch some Sonic Youth classics, including "Kool Thing," "Bull In The Heather," "Teenage Riot," "Sunday," "Anti-Orgasm" and "The Diamond Sea."

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Ben Yakas in Arts & Entertainment on October 15, 2011 11:40 AM

Comments [rss]

ButtPlugs

Chances for Sonic Youth to arrive at Occupy Wall Street is now slim to none :(

be hole

UGH. I coulda done without this one today.

Adriana lopez

http://www.facebook.com/groups...

inspired a facebook group.

what chance DO we have now??

bobbybrownguy

i heard thurston was sleeping with some south american chick for the last 5 years.

Nos Feratu

Paz Lenchantin?

uponfifth

Sorry, but the coolest couple is Tina and Chris.

Nick Semmora

Tina Turner and Chris Brown are great together, at least until he goes all Ike Turner on her.

Nos Feratu

I really like this band, but wouldn't it be more appropriate now if they called themselves, "Sonic Geezers"?

Fofofofofo

Do you laugh at your own jokes?

Nos Feratu

Only when I'm walking back from the methadone clinic.

prain

I don't get why certain people (security-obsessed masochists) hold relationships like this one up to justify their simpler views/expectations of life, though sometimes, they are beautiful. We should celebrate People like Kim and Thurston, artists and independent-minded people at large who value (artistic) innovation overall, and who will make sacrifices to keep their individual paths open. In my opinion, this is more selfless than selfish. I can't wait to see what they do as individuals who are now ready to open up to the world as completely strong, valid individuals. Their accomplishments are immeasurable. They've done so much. Can anyone blame them for riding off into the dust to do something different now? They leave us, if anything, in wondrous awe. - the material becomes immaterial = awesome.

splicernyc

Does a split have to be acrimonious? When my ex and I split up it was because our relationship had run its course and we wanted to go in other directions. She and I are still friends -- good friends actually. Just because a marriage is over it doesn't mean the parties have to hate each other.

StarryGordon

With the encouragement of the media, they made the marriage communal property (see advertising above). This vastly complicates dealing with the relationship in any way, positive or negative.

splicernyc

It's really true of any couple even if it's only among a circle of friends. My wife and I have a somewhat public marriage in a particular community that we are active in. Many people in that community put us up as some sort of "perfect couple" even if only to say something like, "They are so cute together" or something equally as trite. This makes things difficult because it forces us to maintain an appearance for them and to keep the real relationship as private as possible. It's an odd juggling act. I'm not saying that my marriage has become the kind of public property as Kim/Thurston or whoever but in our small way, we feel a kind of pressure too.

Like I said, sometimes things run their course. Sad but true.

robingee

Oh man, not these two? How can this be???

PicoPhreako69

Nothing lasts forever.

tsol

Will she give him his balls back?

robotjuiced

NOOOOOOOO!!!!!

Stanhope Charming

Please respect our personal privacy following this official public announcement by our record company regarding the state of our marriage.