Read This: Kim Gordon finally dishes on what really happened between her and Thurston Moore
The Internet is full of interesting things to read outside of The A.V. Club—no, really! In our periodic Read This posts, we point you toward interesting or noteworthy pieces that caught our eye.
When Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore announced their breakup in the fall of 2011, Sonic Youth fans (and fans of love) wailed in protest. What could have caused this longstanding couple to collapse? Well, a year and a half later, Gordon’s talking, and it’s pretty depressing.
While the couple isn’t yet divorced (Gordon says it’s because they’re having all their art, books, and records assessed), the frontwoman dished on her relationship for an Elle magazine feature this month. She says she can “understand people being curious,” but that she’s moved on and is dating younger men. And as for what actually happened to the marriage, well, as Gordon puts it, “it ended in kind of a normal way—midlife crisis, starstruck woman.” Elle runs down the whole sordid thing, saying,
“Some years ago, a woman Gordon declines to name became a part of the Sonic Youth world, first as the girlfriend of an erstwhile band member and later as a partner on a literary project with Moore. Eventually, Gordon discovered a text message and confronted him about having an affair. They went to counseling, but he kept seeing the other woman. "We never got to the point where we could just get rid of her so I could decide what I wanted to do," Gordon says. "Thurston was carrying on this whole double life with her. He was really like a lost soul." Moore moved out. Gordon stayed home and listened to a lot of hip-hop. "Rap music is really good when you’re traumatized," she says.”
The article isn’t all gossip, though. It goes on to talk a lot more about Gordon’s current existence, addressing her recent breast cancer scare and relationship with her daughter, Coco, who’s studying art in Chicago. It also sheds some light on Gordon’s thoughts about Girls, Russian art-punk act Pussy Riot, and her youth in Los Angeles. The whole thing’s a fascinating read, and well worth a glance now or a bookmark for later.