Van Morrison - Personal Life

Personal Life

Morrison lived in Belfast from birth until 1967, when he moved to New York after signing with Bang Records. Facing deportation due to visa problems, he managed to stay in the US when his American girlfriend Janet (Planet) Rigsbee agreed to marry him. Once married, Morrison and his wife moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he found work performing in local clubs. The couple had one daughter, Shana Morrison, who has become a singer-songwriter. Morrison and his family moved around America, living in Boston; Woodstock, New York; and a hilltop home in Fairfax, California. His wife appeared on the cover of the album Tupelo Honey. They divorced in 1973.

Morrison moved back to Europe in the late 1970s, first settling in London's Notting Hill Gate area. Later, he moved to Bath, where he purchased Wool Hall Studios. He also has a home in the Irish seaside village of Dalkey near Dublin, where legal actions against two different neighbours concerning safety and privacy issues have been taken to court in 2001 and in 2010. In the former case, Morrison pursued his action all the way to the Irish Supreme Court.

In 2001, nine months into a tour with Linda Gail Lewis promoting their collaboration You Win Again, Ms. Lewis left, later filing claims against Morrison for unfair dismissal and sexual discrimination. Both claims were later withdrawn, and Morrison's solicitor was quoted that "(Van's) pleased that these claims have finally been withdrawn. He accepted a full apology and comprehensive retraction which represents a complete vindication of his stance from the outset. Miss Lewis has given a full and categorical apology and retraction to Mr Morrison."

Morrison met Irish socialite Michelle Rocca in the summer of 1992, and they often featured in the Dublin gossip columns, an unusual event for the reclusive Morrison. Rocca also appeared on one of his album covers, Days Like This. The couple are married and have two children; a daughter was born in January 2006 and a son was born in August 2007.

In December 2009, Texas native and Morrison employee Gigi Lee gave birth to a son who she asserted was Morrison's and who she named after him. Lee announced the birth of the child on Morrison's official website although Morrison subsequently has denied paternity of the child. It was revealed in December 2011 that Lee died from throat cancer in October 2011 and her son had died previously in January 2011, from complications of diabetes.