#WeddingBells: Singer Stromae secretly marries stylist

singer-stromae-secretly-marries-stylist-in-belgium

Stromae, the Belgian pop superstar whose French-language songs have found global appeal, secretly tied the knot with his stylist at the weekend, the venue manager said Monday.

The genre-merging singer married Coralie Barbier just weeks after completing a world tour that took him as far away as New York and Rwanda, where his father was killed in the 1994 genocide.

“The wedding took place on Saturday. It was a family affair with some friends there too,” said Stijn Beschuyt, the manager of the hotel wedding venue, a stylishly converted church in the town of Malines.

The 180 invited guests were at first unaware of the event’s true purpose but quickly caught on, Beschuyt said.

“It was a beautiful ceremony done in great taste,” he said, adding that he had faced the formidable task of keeping the secret “for months”.

Brussels resident Stromae, 30, and his 31-year-old bride first visited the hotel “about a year ago” and fell in love with it, Beschuyt said.

Stromae, whose real name is Paul Van Haver, has won a huge following in Belgium and France for his tunes which merge pop, electro and rap, including his 2009 hit “Alors on danse”.

While danceable they are also introspective with themes including the absence of his Rwandan father.

In October he became just the third French-language artist to fill New York’s legendary Madison Square Garden venue after crooner Charles Aznavour and warbler Celine Dion.

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