We recently heard a rumor that Lana Del Rey and Marilyn Manson are dating. Gasp! Whether or not it’s true, we’ve decided to take the opportunity to look back at the weirdest and most unlikely couples in the music industry. Though we know our understanding of celebrities is limited — we see them as figures crafted by marketing teams and stylists, and their appearances might not totally match their true natures — they do seem to have a knack for twisting themselves into seemingly bizarre romantic pairings, whether for media attention, true love, or just boredom, we’ll never know. Click through to see ten of the most unlikely celebrity couples with at least one musical member, at let us know if we’ve missed the one that shocks you most in the comments.
Lana Del Rey and Marilyn Manson
After shocking the world by dating starlet Evan Rachel Wood for three years, Manson is now seemingly sharing his eyeliner with Lana Del Rey, another dreamy-eyed, slightly edgy girl who’s way too pretty for him. He must have some sort of animal magnetism going on under all that black.
Jessica Simpson and Billy Corgan
Him: sometime poet and semi-unhinged leader of anguished alt-rock band. Her: poppy songstress who’s not sure if this is chicken or fish. Unlike some of the relationships on this list, which seem suspiciously unbalanced, we don’t understand why either of these two would want to date the other — they just don’t seem to be on the same page. But then again, maybe opposites attract, and maybe Simpson is weirder than we thought. After all, of Corgan she tweeted, “He braids my prayers.” Maybe where she comes from, that means love.
Madonna and Vanilla Ice
We don’t think we have to tell you why these two make a strange pair, but it may surprise you to learn, given their current reputations, that it was Vanilla Ice who broke up with Madonna. The pair split in 1992, after an eight month relationship, over Madonna’s now-legendary book Sex. “I was hurt to be an unwitting part of this slutty package,” Vanilla Ice said. “We were in a relationship, yet it looked like she was screwing all these other people… I thought she was taking pictures and running round naked because she was like that. Then when the book came out I was so embarrassed and ashamed. It was a porno.” We never pegged him for a prude.
Madonna and Dennis Rodman
Okay, this one we understand a little better — after all, when the two dated in 1994 they were both bombastic, wild hotties at the top of their respective fields, though Rodman was a little rougher around the edges (he originally thought Madonna was “too bubblegum” to date). But we don’t get Madonna’s alleged desperation to have babies with the basketball player — she doesn’t seem like the type to have to work hard to get a guy to do much of anything. What was going on there, we wonder?
Tom Cruise and Cher
Oh, yes. Just after Risky Business and pre-Scientology, the 39-year-old Cher hooked up with the 23-year-old Cruise, and, despite their age difference and the fact that he was a total preppy dork to her rockstar persona, was apparently totally smitten with him. “It could have been a great big romance because I was crazy for him,” she said. We have never heard of anything more random in our lives.
Cameron Diaz and Sean “Diddy” Combs
Apparently, these two are always making out all over the place. Well, they’re both good looking, so who’s to stop them, but we’ve always thought of Diaz as the goofy girl next door, and Diddy as the sharp shooting player, and that doesn’t exactly seem like a match made in heaven to us. Then again, they both have impeccable style, so maybe they’re hanging out and talking about fabric samples. Just maybe.
Adam Duritz and Emmy Rossum
We have to say, Counting Crows frontman Adam Duritz does remarkably well for himself, considering that he has the hairstyle of a muppet. He’s dated Jennifer Aniston, Courtney Cox and sweet actress and singer Emmy Rossum. He looks like her favorite band teacher that she just ran into at a charity gala. That is all we’re going to say about that.
Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley
Presley married Jackson twenty days after her divorce from Danny Keough was finalized, four months after they had begun dating. The whole thing was so quick and so strange that newspapers — and even the two stars’ spokespeople — thought it was some sort of hoax. Apparently, they had grown close as Jackson leaned on Presley while accusations of child molestation were flying. Two years later, they filed for divorce, citing irreconcilable differences.
Katy Perry and Russell Brand
To be honest, while we thought the relationship was weird at first — bubbly pop star from hyper-religious roots weds foul-tempered (and foul-mouthed) comedian — we grew to kind of like the odd match until their recent split. Sigh. Well, maybe now Katy Perry can date Justin Timberlake, or someone else equally pop-friendly. He has to like bright colors, though.
Nick Cannon and Mariah Carey
This is old news, but remember in 2008 when Nick Cannon and Mariah Carey got married after having dated for six weeks? They seem a totally incongruous pair — the R&B/pop diva and the Nickelodeon-bred rapper ten years her junior — but then again, the pair is still going strong with two kids in tow, so who are we to judge?