{"id":37003,"date":"2026-08-10T19:01:38","date_gmt":"2026-08-10T14:01:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=37003"},"modified":"2026-08-10T19:01:38","modified_gmt":"2026-08-10T14:01:38","slug":"tears-for-fears-star-admits-he-fell-in-love-with-another-woman-before-his-wife-died","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=37003","title":{"rendered":"Tears for Fears star admits he fell in love with another woman before his wife died"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignleft wp-block-nypost-editor-partner-article-links\">\n<div 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\/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p>Tears for Fears star <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/article\/best-new-book-releases-to-read-this-week\/\">Roland Orzabal<\/a> is opening up about the painful final years of his marriage, revealing that he fell in love with another woman before his first wife, Caroline, died after a long battle with an alcohol-related illness.<\/p>\n<p>The \u201cEverybody Wants to Rule the World\u201d singer, who has written a new memoir,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/article\/tears-for-fears-tour-2023-tickets-dates-prices\/\">\u201cWelcome to Your Life,\u201d\u00a0<\/a>admitted he reached his breaking point after spending years watching his wife\u2019s condition deteriorate. Orzabal described that while walking away may have seemed cruel, he eventually saw \u201ca clear way forward.\u201de<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy was it important to be so candid? Well, because it\u2019s the truth,\u201d the 64-year-old told Fox News Digital. \u201cI didn\u2019t want to write something false. And also, I always felt that somewhere out there is someone who\u2019s going through what you went through.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019d spent years and years with Caroline in this state,\u201d Orzabal reflected. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t just a year or six months. And yes, I had enough. I was shown a clear way forward.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In October 2016, Orzabal met writer and photographer Emily Rath while Tears for Fears were\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/08\/08\/us-news\/ufo-over-colorado-base-in-video-air-force-wont-share-sources\/\">in Colorado<\/a>\u00a0to perform at Red Rocks. He wrote that his immediate reaction when he noticed her was, \u201cThat\u2019s my wife.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve been around the world many times and had seen and met many attractive women, but I\u2019d never heard those words before,\u201d he wrote. \u201cThey didn\u2019t make sense, either, because I was already married, and this woman looked nothing like Caroline.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Roland Orzabal of Tears for Fears performs at the FirstBank Amphitheater in Franklin, Tenn., Tuesday, July 11, 2023.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Rath was 30 when she met the then-55-year-old Orzabal. \u201cOuch,\u201d he wrote. \u201cIf only I was half my age and she was older.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>After exchanging numbers, the pair developed what Orzabal initially described as a \u201cfriendship between two creatives.\u201d Looking back, however, he acknowledged, \u201cThe truth is, I was falling in love with Emily before Caroline had died.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>By then, Orzabal had spent decades with Caroline, whom he had known since they were teenagers.<\/p>\n<p>Orzabal was around 14 years old when he first met Caroline Johnston. They married<a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2024\/05\/20\/real-estate\/jane-seymours-former-uk-manor-seeks-15-89m\/\">\u00a0in Bath, England,<\/a> in 1982, when the singer had just turned 21 and Caroline was 20. They had two sons.<\/p>\n<p>Before Caroline\u2019s physical and mental health deteriorated, the marriage had already endured significant strain. In the book, Orzabal describes a passionate but volatile relationship marked by frequent arguments. As his career took off, he spent long periods away and admits becoming increasingly \u201cselfish,\u201d \u201chedonistic\u201d and absorbed in his rock star persona.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>By the mid-1990s, the marriage was in serious trouble. The couple discussed separation and sought marriage counseling. Orzabal says he was determined to keep his family together while acknowledging \u201cthe pain that I put Caroline through.\u201d Despite the turmoil, they stayed together.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Curt Smith and Roland Orzabal of Tears for Fears perform on stage during the Andre Agassi Foundation\u2019s 8th Annual Grand Slam for Children benefit concert.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Things changed in the late 2000s, when the couple settled into what Orzabal describes as a predictable, day-to-day life where heavy nightly drinking became routine. Around 2011, friends began noticing a change in Caroline\u2019s behavior.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was a slow process,\u201d Orzabal recalled to Fox News Digital. \u201cShe would say it\u2019s menopause. \u2018It\u2019s the menopause. I\u2019m not eating because of the menopause. I\u2019m weird because of the menopause. I\u2019m depressed because of the menopause.\u2019 And she was always very emphatic, hard to argue with.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI went along with this for many, many years until it was obvious that menopause was over, but the symptoms continued and got worse,\u201d he said. \u201cIt got worse and worse. We went to see several doctors, and they all said, \u2018It\u2019s alcohol.\u2019 But even then I was in denial because I was a wine drinker. I thought, \u2018It isn\u2019t doing me any harm, so why is it doing harm to her?&#8217;\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo be honest with you, it wasn\u2019t until the autopsy that I realized the truth,\u201d Orzabal admitted. \u201cTerrible.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>According to Orzabal, Caroline eventually struggled to eat solid food even as she continued drinking. She spent increasing amounts of time on the sofa, became anxious, stopped regularly cooking for their sons and alienated friends. Orzabal writes that her condition escalated to \u201cseizures and hospitalizations,\u201d \u201cbizarre ideation\u201d and loss of normal bodily control. He described watching helplessly as she \u201cslowly melted away.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Orzabal writes that Caroline\u2019s drinking became increasingly secretive, and he later discovered that she had been hiding bottles of vodka. He recalled seeing her jaundiced with \u201cdeathly red marks\u201d on her face.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow much of a carer are you? Is that your natural bent?\u201d Orzabal told Fox News Digital. \u201cI would say with me, it probably wasn\u2019t, but I did it anyway. And I think what it did was it would make me very angry inside, which wasn\u2019t good. I had people talk to me about just leaving, which I would never have done. But I think in hindsight, it\u2019s stupid to say now, but maybe I should have done something about it earlier or left. Sounds harsh.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Roland Orzabal and his second wife, Emily. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cI think the problem was that, one minute, she\u2019d be fine,\u201d said Orzabal. \u201cWe would have a decent conversation. And then the next minute. She was doolally \u2014 not making sense, demented.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Orzabal wrote that as his feelings for Rath developed, he found himself confronting a choice about his future.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was at a crossroads, a tipping point, if you like,\u201d wrote Orzabal. \u201cA tipping point that would redefine my life. With all the things that were going on with Caroline, with all the visits to psychiatrists, to neurologists, to hepatologists, I was falling in love with a young, healthy woman who I believed loved me too and was the opposite of what I had left at home.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c\u2026 I had a talk with myself, out loud, pacing the room like some crazy man. I knew what was going to happen to Caroline: She would once again be committed and the whole process, the whole nightmare, would start again. And where would it end? I could choose the scenario, the illness, the misery and the frustration, or I could choose an alternative and leave her madness behind. \u2026 I could choose life, or I could choose death. God strike me down, cancel me, whatever, but I chose life.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Orzabal told Fox News Digital that imagining a life beyond his wife\u2019s illness left him with an agonizing sense of guilt.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf you choose life at this moment, you were cruel,\u201d he said. \u201cBut I think it was the final straw because Caroline had already spent three months in a psych ward. I\u2019d been there virtually every day going to visit her. And then, all of a sudden, that night I saw an alternative life for myself, which is hard to do \u2014 hard to take. But I did.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In 2017, Orzabal\u2019s first\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.galvnews.com\/news_ap\/nation\/tears-for-fears-roland-orzabal-shares-darkest-chapter-of-his-life-for-the-first-time\/article_acd0f594-180f-5036-a8bb-650be0524b0b.html?block_id=531919\">wife of 35 years died.<\/a> She was 54.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI felt belief and disbelief,\u201d he said. \u201cI couldn\u2019t take it in because you have to go into action. I had to speak to my sons, my family. You\u2019re clearing up the mess that death leaves.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In 2019, Orzabal said he entered InnerBalance, a rehabilitation center in Colorado, for treatment of his Ambien addiction. He said he began to forgive himself there.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>\u201cWelcome to Your Life: Love, Death &amp; Tears For Fears \u2013 An Iconic Musician\u2019s Journey Through Grief, Addiction, and Recovery\u201d by Roland Orzabal.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s this madness that comes with grief,\u201d he explained. \u201cThere\u2019s the negotiation. \u2018What if I did this?\u2019 \u2018What if I did that?\u2019 And then, what happens when you no longer have that person to negotiate with? You no longer have that person to get angry. That\u2019s all gone, and you are only left with the feeling.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI left out a lot of details, especially when it came to Caroline,\u201d he continued. \u201cIt was a lot worse, but I wanted to be respectful of those who\u2019ve passed on. I wanted to respect her name. She\u2019s my sons\u2019 mother. So no, I couldn\u2019t put the gruesome details at all. Even though it sounds bad, it\u2019s much worse.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Orzabal and Rath married\u00a0in 2020. They had a daughter, Eula, in 2025.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEmily has been an amazing support system for me,\u201d said Orzabal. \u201cIt depends on your belief system \u2013 I think that if you believe in the soul, then [Caroline] would completely understand. When I think about the person she was \u2026 she would understand.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tears for Fears star Roland Orzabal is opening up about the painful final years of his marriage, revealing that he fell in love with another woman before his first wife, Caroline, died after a long battle with an alcohol-related illness. The \u201cEverybody Wants to Rule the World\u201d singer, who has written a new memoir,\u00a0\u201cWelcome to&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":37004,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/pagesix.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/08\/tears-fears-singer-confesses-i-136954616.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&w=1200","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37003","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-celebrity-gossip"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37003","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=37003"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37003\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/37004"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=37003"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=37003"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=37003"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}