When American R&B star Kelis performed at South London’s Mighty Hoopla Festival last week, fans weren’t surprised to hear she was belting out some of the old hits from a glittering career spanning over 25 years.
More shockingly, watching her admiringly from the wings was a much older blast from the past.
The infamous sprawling comedy superstar Bill Murray is probably the last person many would expect to find on stage at one of her concerts.
But love, it is often said, is a mystery and it is love that allegedly binds this unlikely couple together.
Apparently, the 72-year-old actor and 43 can now add to the list of oddball show business couples that have included Tom Cruise and Cher, Russell Brand and Katy Perry, Brad Pitt and Sinitta, and Michael Jackson and Brooke Shields over the years. be added year-old singer-songwriter.
When American R&B star Kelis (centre, next to Bill Murray, right) performed at South London’s Mighty Hoopla Festival last week, fans weren’t surprised to learn that she had heard some of the old hits from a glittering career that were more than 25 years
The twice-married Hollywood star and father of six has been in London to film a Ghostbusters sequel, during which time the pair reportedly stayed at the same hotel.
Sources say the famously “rumpled” actor and the glamorous singer, 29 years his junior, have been “close for a while” after their first meeting in the US.
It is alleged that they bonded over their shared circumstances, particularly the loss they suffered from the recent deaths of their husbands, albeit in very different circumstances.
Kelis’ second husband, photographer Mike Mora, died of stomach cancer in March last year at the age of 37. They were married in 2014 and had a son the following year, followed by a daughter in 2020.
Murray’s second wife Jennifer Butler, a costume designer the actor had met on the set of his 1993 comedy Groundhog Day, died in 2021 after an 11-year marriage that produced four children.
But by that time, they had been separated for 13 years. Ms Butler – whose affair with Murray ended his first marriage to TV chat show guest booker Mickey Kelley – filed for divorce in 2008. She cited a litany of allegations against Murray — none of which he directly responded to — including domestic violence, infidelity, and addiction to sex, cannabis, and alcohol.
Murray’s private life was further complicated in 2022 when he was accused of inappropriate behavior on the set of the film Being Mortal, which had to be temporarily shut down as a result. He had reportedly straddled a female production assistant as they wore Covid protocol masks and kissed her through the face covering.
She filed an official complaint. He acknowledged what had happened, but insisted it had been “joking.” The younger woman countered that it had been “all sexual” and that she was “shocked.”
Murray paid her $100,000 to settle. His reputation was further tarnished when actress Geena Davis published a memoir a few months later accusing him of sexually harassing her while filming the 1989 crime comedy Quick Change.
She claimed that Murray “insisted” on using a massager on her while she was lying on the bed, despite repeatedly saying no.
Thelma & Louise star Davis also claimed that “everyone-loves-him” Murray angrily berated her in front of the crew after she was delayed by a wardrobe issue.
She said Murray’s “very dark side” was “barely news,” though it came as a shock to many. Murray did not comment on the claims. Kelis Rogers also claims to have experienced the dark side of a man – her first husband, the combustible rap star Nas.
Kelis Rogers (pictured), born and raised in Harlem, the daughter of a Pentecostal minister and a fashion designer, was educated at a prestigious New York performing arts school and was still a teenager when she landed her first record deal
They married in 2005 after meeting three years earlier when she was 22. But in 2009, just three months before the birth of their son, she filed for divorce due to irreconcilable differences.
She has since described their relationship as physically and mentally abusive. ‘It was dark. It was really dark,” she told entertainment program Hollywood Unlocked. ‘There was a lot of drinking. There was a lot of physical and mental abuse.”
She continued, “Did he hit me? Mmmm. Did I hit him back? Mmmm. He would pass out. He would drink too much. He drank way too much. He’ll never admit it…so he may not remember many things.”
Born and raised in Harlem, the daughter of a Pentecostal preacher and a fashion designer, Kelis Rogers was educated at a prestigious New York performing arts school and was still in her teens when she won her first recording contract.
She went on to score a series of best-selling hits. In 2003 – two years after winning the International Breakthrough Act at the Brit Awards – she recorded her biggest hit, a raunchy single called Milkshake.
In the accompanying video, she frolics in a restaurant, writhing on a counter while singing “My milkshake brings all the boys to the yard.”
Her production has since matured, with collaborations with stars ranging from Bjork to Enrique Iglesias. In 2006, she began a four-year part-time cooking course as a saucier and eventually graduated from the Cordon Bleu school.
She has since starred in her own TV cooking show, wrote a recipe book, opened a pop-up restaurant in London in 2016, and appeared in a Netflix competition series called Cooked With Cannabis.
So what else could have brought her together with the short-tempered Murray? She admits to being “quirky” – and he certainly is. Both share a preference for living off the grid, far from the hustle and bustle of show business.
Murray, who reportedly has five homes in the US, lives like a semi-recluse. He has not had an agent or publicist for years and can only be reached through friends or by leaving a message on an answering machine.
Scripts, it is said, should be left in a phone booth. It reportedly took director Sofia Coppola seven months to track him down and ask him to appear in the 2003 Oscar-winning film Lost in Translation. He has lost a string of movie roles because filmmakers couldn’t reach him.
He doesn’t seem to care, he once said, ‘People say they can’t find me. Well, if you can write a good script, it’s a lot harder than finding someone.’
Convicted of selling cannabis at the age of 21, he ran afoul of the law again 35 years later in 2007 when he was apprehended in Sweden on suspicion of driving a golf cart while intoxicated.
Murray, who rose to prominence for radio comedy in the early 1970s, certainly has a reputation for being difficult to work with – Ghostbusters co-star Dan Aykroyd dubbed him The Murricane.
Austin Powers star Seth Green said last year he was nine when Murray, objecting to the boy sitting on the arm of his chair, picked him up by the ankles and dropped him into a bin. In 2021, actress Lucy Liu claimed he hurled “unforgivable and unacceptable” insults at her on the set of Charlie’s Angels in 2000.
Richard Dreyfuss accused him in 2019 of drunkenly throwing a heavy glass ashtray at his head on the set of the film What About Bob? from 1991.
“He put his face next to me, nose to nose, and he screamed at the top of his lungs, ‘Everybody hates you! You will be tolerated!” Dreyfuss said. Murray insisted that his onscreen rivalry with Dreyfuss never spilled over after the cameras stopped rolling.
However. the film’s producer, the late Laura Ziskin, said the actor once “playfully” threw her into a lake and — less playfully — threatened to throw her across a parking lot. Murray did not respond to her claims. The star seems unrepentant. “I will fire you completely if you are unprofessional and cooperate with me,” he said in 2009.
Wherever their relationship goes, Kelis can at least reassure herself that it’s not professional.