Frontman Of Frankie Goes To Hollywood; Holly Johnson Has A Beautiful Relationship With His Partner Of 30 Years!
Renowned lead vocalist of the band Frankie Goes to Hollywood; Holly Johnson is referred as a monumental LGBTQ+ icon. Recently he has announced to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the band’s iconic debut album “Welcome To The Pleasuredome” on a June 2025 UK tour. Thanks to his partner, Holly is in good health and still active in the music industry!
William Holly Johnson was born on February 9, 1960 in Liverpool, England. He was 14-year-old when he decided to take the name “Holly” inspired by an actress Holly Woodlawn.
His band Frankie Goes to Hollywood was immensely successful during mid-1980s. Besides that he was also a bassist for the band Big in Japan in the last 1970s.
Johnson also had solo ventures and his debut album Blast reached number one in the UK albums chart in 1989. After being diagnosed with HIV, he wrote an autobiography; A Bone In My Flute in 1994.
Wolfgang Kuhle And Holly Johnson Share A Common Interest In Arts
Holly Johnson has always been vocal about his homosexuality and being HIV positive.
He was always ahead of his time, because in that era many male artists preferred to stay in the closet due to the fear of public scrutiny.
He recalls;
“The gay thing was a bit isolating in the music industry. There were a lot of other gay singers and they’d all been advised to stay in the closet. It was considered dangerous and it did affect the band’s profile in middle America. Everything that was written about us was ‘gay this and gay that’, I think that’s why the Pet Shop Boys stayed in the closet during the 80s.“
Johnson hasn’t tied the knot but lives with his long-term partner of 30 years Wolfgang Kuhle in West London. Furthermore Kuhle is Johnson’s personal manager.
Johnson and Kuhle met each other in the early 1980s. Eventually, Kuhle became a successful art dealer, collecting paintings by Duncan Grant and Vanessa Bell.
On the other hand, Johnson subsequently joined Frankie Goes To Hollywood in 1982.
Kuhle has been with Johnson through every thick and thin, supporting Johnson in every step of the way. When the two met each other for the first time, Johnson was in his struggling phase.
Johnson was starting out as bassist with the local band Big in Japan while also releasing two solo singles. However both “Yankee Rose” and “Hobo Joe” failed on the chart.
In an interview with The Guardian, when the interviewer asked him if Wolfgang thinks he is an easy person to live with, Johnson immediately replies with a “No”.
“He calls me Street Angel/House Devil! There’s a German phrase that says that, actually, but I can’t remember it. He gets the sharp end of my tongue. And if we have a row, I’ve got a very loud, booming voice that you’d never assume I had from talking to me. It comes from the diaphragm! You can hear me across the street.”
They both are passionate about arts which definitely made them more compatible with each other.
While Kuhle became an art dealer, Johnson also embarked on the journey of writing, painting, and printmaking careers.
Furthermore, he even had his own paintings exhibited at the Royal College of Art in 2001.
Despite Johnson’s immense fame, activism and well-documented success, his relationship with Kuhle is very private.
Similarly there is no information about Kuhle in public domain.
Johnson is quite active on Instagram but hasn’t posted anything related to his relationship with Wolfgang. There is only one public available picture of the couple which we found in this website.
Additional Information
- Holly Johnson was born to the parents Eric Johnson and Pat McGlouchlin
- Johnson was the third of four children and was nicknamed Billy as a child.
- Johnson was the one who named the band after seeing the headline of an article about Frank Sinatra.
