Sonic Youth's Core Couple Is Separating

The married pair's split casts doubts on the legendary band's future

Alternative rock's super-couple has split after 27 years of marriage, leaving plans uncertain for their legendary band Sonic Youth.

Late Friday night, Spin Magazine reported that Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore were separating — bad news that's sure to shake fans' faith in the longevity of love and rock bands.

The announcement came in the form of a release from the couple's rep at their home on Matador Records.

The future of the band — regarded as one of the most influential in noise, alternative and art rock — is unclear. Although the issued statement says Sonic Youth will finish out its slated South American tour dates, plans beyond are tenuous.

Gordon and Moore are parents to a 17-year-old daughter, Coco, who fronts her own band, Big Nils.

The erstwhile couple formed Sonic Youth together with guitarist Lee Ranaldo back in 1981, and long-time drummer Steve Shelley joined four years later. Gordon and Moore married in 1984.

The band has released 16 studio albums, including the landmark "Daydream Nation," during its 30-year tenure. Its members have also become sentinels of indie rock and mainstays of the New York art and fashion worlds.

Despite trenchantly non-commercial roots in experimental noise, Sonic Youth flirted briefly with mainstream cross-over success in the early '90s when it signed to Geffen Records — and helped friends Nirvana score a record deal there, too.

Most recently, Sonic Youth has been releasing albums on Matador and busily touring. Its members have also been performing and releasing music solo with other collaborators.

Selected Reading: Wall Street Journal (blog), The Hollywood Reporter

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