A true story about rock stars who got married

Once there was a boy growing up in a dingy little town. He was depressive, shy, artistic, reclusive. An introvert. He took pills to battle depression. He drank. He self-medicated. He was just a kid. He was cute but dirty, didn't like to shower, just liked to sing and smoke and write poetry and play music and draw art. Then one day he started a band and became the singer.

The band was rough, punky, loud at first, hardcore, crunchy and driven. Their lyrics were just plain weird.

The band grew in popularity really rapidly, so rapidly that the band members often felt overwhelmed by their sudden fame. People started to recognize them and make more demands on them. They went from being a bunch of potheads riding around in a van to being a huge arena act. They quickly became one of the biggest acts in the country, won awards, travelled all over.

The band continued to rise in popularity and the singer became more depressed. Took more pills. Drank more. Scared his bandmates once in a while with his desperation.

The band also had a message. They were against homophobia so strongly that a lot of people thought the singer was gay. He made out with his bandmates for shock value. He spoke out strongly against voilence, said it made him physically ill. He was a devout feminist. He spoke out loud and clear about the horrible way women were treated. He spoke out about how difficult it was for women in bands to be taken seriously. He spoke out against sexism in music. He went so far as to tell any "fan" of the bands that if they were sexist, racist or homophobic, to get rid of all the merch they had bought of the band, because he didn't want those kinds of people listening to him.

The singer also had a long-term girlfriend who was with him from before the band started. No one ever really knew much about her at the time. She stayed out of the limelight. But when the band got really big, they broke up, amongst whispered rumors of her "not being supportive enough" and not being there enough for him. Because he was emotionally dependent on others. This was becoming clear. The singer had a lot of fear in him. More and more he talked about it in his songs, his fear.

The singer also decided to get clean, to try to be well. To learn to stand up without any crutches. For a while he seemed to be doing well, the next album the band released was a departure from their old, punkier stuff. It was more produced, cleaner, lyrically crazier. They did a really cool video that started with a shot of a dying man in a hospital bed surrounded by a wall of sheets while the band played on the screen.

The singer briefly dated someone else, it didn't last too long.

Around the time that the guy's band was getting popular, there was also a girl in a band. Hers was a band of both men and women. They were struggling, just starting to get good gigs. They were different from the guy's band and had a different message. More violent. Louder, more hardcore. The girl, she dressed in children's clothes, like a schoolgirl. Ripped up stockings and dresses. She threw herself into the crowd during concerts, acted crazy. There were rumors about this band being into drugs, lots of rumors. Rumors specifically about her drug habits.

When the guy and the girl met and suddenly were involved in this whirlwind romance, each of the band's fans were shocked. Rumors flew from both sides. That she was too hardcore for him, he was too sensitive for her. Her fans hated his band for being poppy sellouts. Some of his fans tried to accept her, because he had made it clear that he was in love. Also with him being a femimist, he supported her band that had women in it.

But the rumors wouldn't quit. As happy as he said he was, he seemed a little too manic sometimes, depressed other times. She seemed to be in her element. Her band was getting loads of attention now. When anyone made a reference to her "past" drug use or to their relationship, the guy would get defensive. He was an adult. Thanks, but he could take care of himself now. He knew what he was doing.

His bandmates was strangely quiet throughout this crazy romance and surprising marriage. Their lives were alreayd stable, they were in relationships of their own. That's how it goes when people grow up, you change what you care about. After that last big record and tour, his band took a well-deserved break. He needed time to settle into his new life. Her band's popularity grew... of course it did. People were interested.

It was quiet for a while. Most people assumed everything was fine. A few observant people knew that it wasn't. Any fans who dared to suggest that things might not be going to well, they were shot down by the optimists who accused them of being "jealous" or "haters". When concerned people pointed to the signs the others said, "none of that means anything!"

But the truth was that it wasn't all going well.

I was there the first time this happened.