Who is Keira Knightley’s rock star husband, James Righton? The former Klaxons keyboardist made a rare appearance at a Chanel fashion show with his wife in Paris, and works with Abba and Tiffany & Co.
So just why have the pair shunned the spotlight of late, and what do we know about the Pirates of the Caribbean star’s husband of 11 years?
Who is Keira Knightley’s husband, James Righton?
Righton, 40, is most famous for being one third of the Klaxons, an indie rock outfit from southeast London whose songs “Gravity’s Rainbow” and “Golden Skans” were among those spearheading the country’s “nu rave” movement in 2006.
How did Keira Knightley meet James Righton?
Even funnier is that Knightley didn’t even know who the Klaxons were at the time, Righton told the New York Post, because she’d been working in the US when the band were having their moment in the UK.
Does Keira Knightley have kids?
The couple tied the knot in Provence in a small ceremony in France in 2013, per People, and welcomed their first child, Edie, in 2015. Four years later, they welcomed a second daughter, Delilah.
Their life isn’t very glamorous
The couple often joke in interviews about how mundane their lives are since they’ve had children. In an interview with The Independent, Righton spoke about how the couple takes the kids to school and organises children’s parties on weekends. Righton also called Knightley “the least movie star person possible”, while the actress referred to him as a “history buff” to The Guardian, who stays at home and reads a lot.
What’s more, despite her estimated net worth of US$80 million, per Celebrity Net Worth, the Atonement actress seems to have made a conscious decision to eschew the glam life, once telling American Glamour: “I think living an [expensive] lifestyle means you can’t hang out with people who don’t live that lifestyle.”
What is the Klaxons’ James Righton doing now?
In his interview with The Independent, Righton admitted that his glory days with the Klaxons messed him up for a while: “We’d gone through such a journey of extreme highs, extreme lows, that by the end of it I didn’t know if I could do it, or wanted to do it. I was lacking in any kind of confidence.” Enjoying its heyday in the noughties, the group released three albums before breaking up in 2015.
Nevertheless, after briefly considering giving up music and opening a microbrewery, according to the BBC, he got back on the horse with lots of encouragement from Knightley.
Since then, he’s collaborated with Arctic Monkeys producer James Ford on new music under the name Shock Machine, written a lockdown album called Jim, I’m Still Here, and even worked with Abba on its groundbreaking stage show Voyage.
However, his most recent projects hint at more crossover with his wife’s world. Not only has he been scoring TV soundtracks, but he’s also created the music for a Tiffany & Co. exhibition in Tokyo, an Erdem catwalk show at London Fashion Week and, most recently, an Erdem exhibition at Chatsworth House – the stately home where Knightley filmed Pride & Prejudice.
- Keira Knightley and her husband were spotted at Chanel’s haute couture show in Paris earlier this week – a rare sighting of the pair, who live a low-key life in London with their 2 daughters
- Righton is a talented musician whose band Klaxons beat Amy Winehouse to a Mercury Prize and performed with Rihanna; more recently, he’s worked on Abba’s Voyage show and created music for Erdem