HALESTORM's JOE HOTTINGER On 'Secret' To Making His Romantic Relationship With LZZY HALE Work: 'We're Very Good Communicators'

In a new interview with Gear4music Guitars, HALESTORM guitarist Joe Hottinger addressed singer Lzzy Hale's recent comments publicly acknowledging the two musicians' ongoing over-two-decades-long romantic relationship. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Most people [already] knew [about it]. We didn't even think about it."

Asked what his "tips and tricks" are for "being in a couple in a band", Joe said: "It's funny. It's a double-edged sword, 'cause you go tour a lot in a band and you either leave your wife at home or your girl's with you everywhere doing everything. But luckily, we love the same things. We love rock shows. We love music. We love guitars. It's, like, anything I like do, she likes to do, and vice versa."

He continued: "I don't know what the secrets are. The only thing we do, we communicate — we're very good communicators. I think that's true, and it doesn't matter if you're in a band or not, but it's, like, deadly honest, which is — to me, that's a love language, being deadly honest. 'Cause if I'm feeling something funny, just say it. Like, 'That's how I feel. Now you know. Do what you want with that. And now I'm free of it.' So maybe that's it. You just talk."

Lzzy talked about her relationship with Joe this past March during an appearance at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles, California where the couple took part in a conversation moderated by Katherine Turman and put on an acoustic performance.

Prior to launching into the song "The Silence", the closing track off HALESTORM's 2018 album "Vicious", Lzzy told the audience: "Just to throw another wrench into the works, for those of you who have just met us, I know there's a lot of different dynamics and things, but Joe and I are together, and we have been for 22 years.

"Like Joe was saying earlier in the night, when we met, we had never met anyone like each other," she continued. "You actually wanna sit till four in the morning and manifest our dreams and make them into reality. And so we were hanging out all the time and I'm, like, 'Man, it sucks that he's in the band.' That's a big no-no. Like Joe said, you don't wanna [end up like] FLEETWOOD MAC," she said, referencing the fact that FLEETWOOD MAC's relationships were famously volatile, characterized by simultaneous breakups and affairs among bandmembers. "What you wanna do is Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo," who have been married and performing and recording together for more than four decades. "But you can't predict those things. So we had these very adult conversations, like, 'Well, if we…' 'Cause we were very immaturely flirting. We were flirting, but pretending we're not… But no, we made the decision, we're, like, 'If we don't try this, then we could be losing out on something too.' Because I will tell you over the last 22 years, there is nothing like having all of these firsts and chasing your dream, doing the thing that you love with the person you love."

Back in April 2020, Lzzy was asked by a fan in a Twitter #AskLzzyAnything session when she and Joe were getting married. Lzzy responded: "I truly have never had the desire. Personal preference. Technically I was asked, have a ring passed down that my SO [significant other] was given from my dad. But I'm living a #newmodernlove".

In October 2015, HALESTORM bassist Josh Smith confirmed the long-standing rumor that Lzzy and Joe were involved in a romantic relationship. He told the 103.9 The Bear radio station: "They're pretty open about their relationship. They don't talk about it openly, but, you know… At the end of the day, we're all like family, and that's more or less the road we take is… You know… Whatever the case may be relationship-wise, it's not gonna break up our band, and that's the… I guess, the big thing is the band is the marriage here."

That same year, Lzzy was asked in an interview if she found it difficult to maintain a relationship while on the road. Hale replied: "In a relationship, you have to literally have everything out there to this other person, and they have to do the same thing with you, or it's not gonna work. I've never been a jealous person either, and as of right now, I'm dating someone who is the same way. So we have a very amazing trust thing going on."

She added: "I think you have to work hard, no matter what, at a relationship, but, really, the first couple of steps — laying everything out there — has been total saving graces for me and my relationship."

Lzzy and her brother Arejay (drums) formed HALESTORM in 1998 while in middle school. Hottinger joined the band in 2003, followed by Smith in 2004.

Photo credit: Jimmy Fontaine