sam riley and annik in movie
Annik Honoré, the Belgian girlfriend of the singer of Joy Division Ian Curtis, has died at the age of 56, after a serious illness. (12 October 1957 – 3 July 2014). Barely a year after their acquaintance, on May 18, 1980, Ian Curtis hanged himself. Thirty years later, Annik Honoré, his Belgian girlfriend, is willing to talk for the first time in detail about her dazzling history with Ian, and a time which was extraordinary in all senses of the word.
"I always expect that Natalie, Ian's daughter, will ring the doorbell of my house ... I would like to tell her my side of what happened." Annik pauses for a moment and offers a smile that gives her face a look of both charm and melancholy.
Honoré was born in Mons, Belgium on 12 October 1957. As a teenager she became interested in rock music, attending various concerts in London as well as other locations. She moved to London in 1979, taking a job as a secretary at the Belgian Embassy.
In late 1979, Honoré and journalist Michel Duval began promoting musical events at the Raffinerie du Plan K venue in Brussels. Joy Division, and Cabaret Voltaire performed on the club's opening night on 16 October.
A few months later, in 1980, Honoré and Duval founded Factory Benelux as a Continental offshoot of Factory Records as well as Les Disques du Crépuscule, an independent Belgian music label. Honoré chose the name "Crépuscule."
In the summer of 1984, she was the tour manager of Front 242 during their American tour.
According to Honoré, in a 2010 interview, her relationship with Ian Curtis, which ended with his death in 1980, was platonic. Curtis' widow, Deborah Curtis, has characterised the relationship, which she claims began in August 1979, as an "affair".
In Control, the Ian Curtis biographical film directed by Anton Corbijn in 2007, Honoré was played by Alexandra Maria Lara. and Ian Curtis was played by actor Sam Riley, Lara's husband.
The story of Annik Honoré has been told in several books, (auto)biographies and films ("Control" by Anton Corbijn, "24 hour party people" by Michael Winterbottom).
Joy Division Bootlegs: "Ian Curtis and Annik Honoré - the Dazzling History of Joy Division"
