Personal Life
As a young adult, Russell led a seemingly heterosexual lifestyle; at least two of these relationships (with Muriel Fuiji in San Francisco and later Sydney Murray in New York) have been substantiated.
Although he briefly dated Allen Ginsberg in 1973, Russell did not identify as a gay man until becoming involved with hairdresser Louis Aquilone in 1976. After the relationship with Aquilone dissolved, Russell dated Donald Murk (who subsequently became Russell's manager) for several years; according to Steven Hall, the relationship was tempestuous, "with lots of threesomes and fighting and very dramatic emotional scenes". As this relationship drew to a close, Russell became acquainted with silkscreen operator Tom Lee; their friendship rapidly evolved into a domestic partnership.
Although Russell continued to dally with other men and women, their partnership endured until his death in 1992. Lee, who became a schoolteacher and continued to reside in the couple's rent-controlled East Village apartment until February 2011, is the executor of Russell's estate. Their relationship is detailed at length in Matt Wolf's Wild Combination: A Portrait of Arthur Russell.
Read more about this topic: Arthur Russell (musician)
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