EDGAR WINTER | Photo Courtesy
February is the month of love, and I think we all can agree the world needs more of it lately. So, I have decided to share with you my favorite rock ‘n’ roll love story — Edgar and Monique Winter.
It wasn’t until after I became obsessed with Edgar Winter’s music a few months ago that I paid any mind to his personal life. It no doubt had to be intriguing though. Being an albino rock ‘n’ roll singer and your older brother Johnny (also affected by albinism) a successful blues guitarist in the ’70s would no doubt be a crazy ride. I wanted to find out more about him as a person, as I often do with other bands in which I become enthralled. What I didn’t account for, however, was stumbling upon the most poetic love story I had ever heard.
And now, dear readers, I share it with you.
It is no big secret that marriages in the spotlight seem to fizzle out fast. It seems the strain of a life on the road away from family and the vices available to the lonely conspire to end many entertainers’ marriages relatively quick.
However, Edgar and Monique Winter are an exception. This does not mean it was always smooth sailing for the pair. To the contrary, it was a bit of a rocky start.
Edgar Winter posted their story on his official website. He admitted right away that they were from different worlds. She was the “toast of the town” and a respected designer from the big city. He on the other hand was a country boy playing rock and roll and living in Connecticut.
At first, Edgar paid no attention to his friends’ talk of the young New York socialite, but finally curiosity got the best of him. He asked his friends to invite her to one of their gigs so they could be introduced. The invitation was respectfully declined. Several similar attempts all ended in a polite decline.
After the last failed attempt, it was obvious to Edgar that Monique just wasn’t interested in him or his lifestyle at all. A thought popped into Edgar’s head that maybe they were judging each other on their public appearance and not thinking they were any different in their personal lives. He resolved to call her directly and hopefully his honesty would win her over enough to agree to a date. To this day he admits he doesn’t know what he said to make her agree.
She did have a stipulation — that the date would not be a “rock ‘n’ roll date.” Edgar took this to mean no sex, which he says he was fine with — until he first saw her.
Remember this is the ’70s we are talking about, way before creeping on social media became the ideal way to find a photo of your crush. Edgar pens their love story with such beautiful language he could have easily made a career as a novelist if his music career hadn’t panned out.
Of their first date, he writes, “I loved Monique from the first moment I saw her face. She was standing there, framed in the doorway of her Park Avenue penthouse, like a work of art, too beautiful to touch; and when I recall that instant, it is as though a new door opened in my life.” Sappy and over-the-top? Maybe. But you still can’t help but let out an “aw.”
They have been happily married since 1979, and not only renew their vows every year but celebrate a honeymoon as well.
I don’t claim to know what true love is, but I’d say these two come pretty close. A story that could have been a children’s fairytale, the Winters’ love story will always be a favorite of mine.