Love Will Tear Us Apart

In part 2 of the love story of Michael Hutchence and Paula Yates, I dig deeper into their relationship, the birth of their only child--Heavenly Hiraani Tiger Lily Hutchence--Michael's unraveling and suicide, the last hours of his life, and the last years of Paula's life. This is the story of toxic love. Of two people who loved each other, but who probably shouldn’t have been together. Who brought out the worst in one another, and couldn’t break away. Love, or passion, or obligation, or a combo of all three, kept this toxic affair going, but it was on a collision course to annihilation. Neither Michael or Paula survived, and the sad truth is, they might still be here today if they had never gotten together. Paula and Michael should be here, but it’s as if their stars were destined to collide, and then disintegrate.

Michael Hutchence and Paula Yates were not on  my short list of episodes, but after watching the Michael Hutchence doc, Mystify, I thought this couple would be worthy of an episode oh my god they had a bat-shit crazy relationship. Until I watched the documentary, I had been a casual fan of INXS. I was too young to enjoy their heyday in the late 80s and early 90s, and by the late 1990s, when their music videos were re-running on VH1, I was still too young to enjoy the quality of their music and Michael Hutchence’s tight pants. Mystify, which is directed by Richard Lowenstein, a friend and music video director for the band, showed me how much I was missing out on.  I dove into INXS’ library and realized what incredible songwriters they were, particularly once I listened to their earlier stuff. What the documentary also did was make me cry for a man I never knew or particularly cared about. It’s evident the filmmaker, and Michael’s friends, family and lovers who were interviewed, had a deep love and respect for the flawed man. It is truly tragic that Michael ended his life at the young age of 37, and the documentary leaves you feeling that his death was completely avoidable. Lowenstein includes a lot of personal and unreleased footage, which gives you an intimate view of the late singer. From all accounts MIchael was a kind, playful, and deeply passionate person that others enjoyed being around. The documentary also reveals that the Michael everyone knew and loved dramatically changed by the early 90s, and I’ll save the reasons why for the podcast. Even though I didn’t know much about Michael before I did my podcast research, over the years I’ve gone down the rabbit hole of rag mags that sensationalized his relationship with Paula Yates. How could you not? The press HOUNDED the couple for YEARS, particularly in England, and their love story continues to fascinate people to this day. The Hutchence-Yates relationship is truly an epic tragedy, and while Paula was painted as the villain in the story, as was her ex-husband Bob Geldolf, I’ve come to learn that this complicated love triangle was more nuanced that what the press portrayed it as. I wanted to make sure everyone got a fair shake in this episode. Note: This episode talks about suicide, depression, and drug abuse. If you or anyone you know is experiencing thoughts of suicide, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.

On May 8th, 2020, Roy Horn, one-half of the famous Las Vegas entertainment act, Siegfried & Roy, died from complications of COVID-19 at the age of 75. For the past 17 years, Horn had been suffering from health issues related to a tiger attack that severed his spine and likely caused a stroke. While initially responding well to treatment for COVID-19, Roy sadly passed a little over a week after his diagnosis. Siegfried and Roy were already on my list for future episodes, but with Roy’s surprise passing, I thought I would expedite their story. One of the reasons why I wanted to explore their relationship is because I realized I knew very little about them and I had the suspicion that their story was more interesting than I assumed. I was a right. Many people wonder if Siegfried and Roy were once romantically involved. The answer is…you’ll just have to listen to the podcast.

In this episode I explore a couple that wasn’t complicated at all. In fact, they were in a perfectly happy and healthy relationship. They had an enviable love story. I had been wanting to share their story for some time, and now seemed like a good time. The couple is Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Martin Ginsburg. I’m writing this episode three hours after hearing the news that Justice Ginsburg had passed away. Like many of you, I’m devasted. I’ve spent the past three hours in a daze and I thought bumping up their love story might help me work through some of those emotions. I first became interested in their relationship when I heard an NPR story where Ruth read the letter her husband wrote to her before he passed away in 2010. I’ll save the letter for later in the podcast, but it’s quite moving. Shortly thereafter, I watched the doc RBG which shed more light on their remarkable relationship. While this podcast tends to focus more on tragic or hot mess relationships—hence the name Love Will Tear Us Apart—at its core, it’s a podcast about epic relationships, and Ruth and Martin’s relationship was epic.

Here is part 2 of the HOLY MOTHER OF GOD THIS IS BONKERS love story of Tina and Ike Turner. In this episode we will get into Tina's abortion, suicide attempt, and final freedom from Ike Turner AND Ike's complete unraveling after Tina left him. Their story is not for the faint of heart and full of trigger warnings.