Atila Altaunbay: The Story of Grace Jones’s Former Husband and His Private Life Beyond Their Marriage
Marrying Grace Jones brought Atila Altaunbay into a world few people experience. His name appeared in international newspapers alongside a performer whose music, fashion and screen presence had already made her famous. Yet the story that followed reached well beyond their wedding.
Known as Jones’s former bodyguard and husband, Altaunbay also had a life in Belgium that received far less attention. His own account, published in the Belgian press, offers a different picture from the familiar celebrity biographies: a young man studying marketing, an unexpected romance and an eventual return to ordinary working life.
Understanding his story means bringing those accounts together while recognising where they differ. Behind the headlines was a relationship whose ending remained complicated long after the couple went their separate ways.
Quick Bio: Atila Altaunbay
| Field | Details |
|---|---|
| Full Name | Atila Altaunbay |
| Alternative Name Spelling | Atila Altunbay |
| Birthplace | Turkey |
| Nationality | Turkish |
| Birth Year | Often listed as 1976, but published ages conflict |
| Connection to Belgium | Lived in Belgium before and after his relationship with Grace Jones |
| Education | Said he was studying marketing before their marriage |
| Best Known For | His marriage to singer, actress and model Grace Jones |
| Earlier Occupation | Bodyguard |
| Famous Spouse | Grace Jones |
| Wedding Year | 1996 |
| Wedding Location | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil |
| Wedding Setting | A private house |
| Wedding Officiant | A Presbyterian minister |
| Separation | Accounts differ on the exact year |
| Later Occupation | Factory employee |
| Later Employer | Volvo Cars in Ghent, Belgium |
| Subsequent Marriage | Said in 2016 that he had remarried in Belgium |
| Death | Reported in October 2021 |
| Reported Age at Death | 45, although earlier age reports are inconsistent |
Atila Altaunbay’s Background and Connection to Belgium
Contemporary coverage described Altaunbay as Turkish-born, while Belgian newspapers connected him with Antwerp. His early childhood is less clearly documented. Detailed claims about his parents, schooling and first jobs appear online, but reliable reporting provides a narrower picture.
One useful glimpse came in May 2016. In an account reported by Nieuwsblad, he recalled meeting Jones during an evening at Carré, a nightclub in Willebroek. He said they quickly connected, although he had not fully understood the scale of her fame.
He also described studying marketing and feeling uncertain about leaving his plans behind when Jones suggested that he join her abroad. According to his recollection, she then proposed marriage. The account presents a young adult facing a sudden personal decision alongside his existing ambitions.
His precise birth date remains uncertain. The frequently repeated birth year of 1976 does not fit neatly with newspaper reports describing him as 21 in February 1996. Those conflicting figures make an exact birthday difficult to establish confidently.
The clearest professional description from the time is bodyguard. Reports published around the wedding identified him in that role, placing his security work at the centre of his early public identity.
The Rio Wedding That Made International News
Grace Jones and Altaunbay married in Rio de Janeiro in February 1996, during her visit to Brazil for Carnival. Their wedding was reported internationally, turning a private relationship into an entertainment news story.
The Irish Times described a ceremony held in a private house and conducted by a Presbyterian minister. It also included an unexpected detail: after getting married, the couple went to a gym to exercise.
That small detail gives the event a more personal feel than the grand celebrity wedding readers might imagine. The setting was private, and the couple’s next stop was surprisingly everyday, even while the announcement travelled through newspapers abroad.
Their age difference became part of the coverage. Altaunbay was described as a young man entering a relationship with an established international performer. Precise figures vary between reports, so the often repeated claim of an exact 28-year gap deserves caution.
The wedding itself is well documented. Some of the more dramatic stories attached to it are harder to establish. In particular, claims explaining the ceremony’s supposed invalidity through the minister’s sexuality should not be treated as a confirmed legal account.
The couple’s later statements raise questions about their marital status, but those statements do not provide a complete explanation of the ceremony’s legal standing.
Why Atila Altaunbay and Grace Jones Went Their Separate Ways
The end of their relationship is more complicated than the simple dates often listed in celebrity profiles. Some biographies give 2004 as the separation year, while Belgian reporting places his return home earlier.
A later Nieuwsblad feature described him returning to Belgium in 2001 after becoming homesick. It also referred to the difference in their ages as a difficulty in the relationship. That account does not align neatly with the standard eight-year marriage timeline.
In 2015, Jones told The Guardian she could not locate him to obtain a divorce, although she considered their relationship over.
His account the following year added another complication. He said he had remarried in Belgium and questioned whether the Brazilian marriage had been valid. That was his understanding of the situation, rather than a published court ruling.
Together, these accounts show why describing the couple as having formally divorced in a particular year can be misleading. Their personal separation is clear; the legal history is less straightforward.
They also illustrate the limits of reconstructing a relationship through interviews. Each person was speaking from their own experience, years after the wedding. Neither account alone settles every question about how or when their shared life ended.
His Return to Ordinary Working Life
Altaunbay’s later years challenge the familiar idea that someone who enters celebrity life will always want to remain there.
Belgian reporting revisited his memories of travelling with Jones, meeting famous people and experiencing expensive hotels and international flights. Those recollections described an extraordinary period, but they also recorded his satisfaction with a quieter life afterwards.
By 2016, he was working at Volvo in Ghent. A later newspaper feature recalled that he had no longing to return to the celebrity lifestyle and was content with his work in Belgium.
That is a significant part of his biography. It gives him a voice beyond the description of “Grace Jones’s husband” and shows how he understood his own circumstances after the relationship.
It also changes the meaning of claims that he simply disappeared. He became much less visible internationally, but Belgian journalists were able to report on his employment and speak about his life.
Online profiles sometimes describe extensive careers in modelling, singing and acting, alongside a senior charity position. The reporting reviewed here does not establish those claims as firmly as his bodyguard work and later factory employment.
His documented working life provides a more grounded picture than a collection of impressive but uncertain job titles.
Atila Altaunbay’s Death and the Questions That Remain
News of his death appeared in Belgian coverage in October 2021. An archived news summary dated 19 October reported that colleagues at Volvo Ghent had shared the news on social media. It gave his age as 45.
That report provides a traceable Belgian connection to the announcement. It also supports the account of his later employment, linking the news to the workplace already mentioned in earlier interviews.
The same summary referred to an initially reported heart attack. However, an early news account is not equivalent to a publicly verified medical finding. His cause of death should therefore be described with care.
There is no sound basis in the sources reviewed here for presenting addiction as the established explanation for his death.
His reported age also leaves the earlier birth-year discrepancy unresolved. A precise date of birth cannot safely be calculated by choosing between conflicting newspaper figures.
What emerges most clearly is a life with several distinct chapters: a connection to Belgium, an internationally reported marriage and a later return to work outside entertainment. The unanswered details should remain unanswered rather than becoming more elaborate with each retelling.
Conclusion
Atila Altaunbay became internationally known through his marriage to Grace Jones, but his own recollections give the story greater depth. They describe personal hesitation, remarkable experiences and satisfaction with an ordinary job afterwards.
The surviving reports leave some dates and legal questions unresolved. They nevertheless reveal someone whose life continued beyond the celebrity headlines. His return to Belgium deserves a place in that story alongside the wedding that first made his name familiar.
(FAQs)
Who was Atila Altaunbay?
He was a Turkish-born man publicly known as Grace Jones’s bodyguard and husband. Belgian reporting also documented his later employment at Volvo in Ghent.
When did he marry Grace Jones?
They married in Rio de Janeiro in February 1996. Contemporary newspaper coverage described a private ceremony conducted by a Presbyterian minister.
Did he return to Belgium after the relationship?
Yes. Belgian reporting described his return and later working life in the Ghent area, away from regular international celebrity coverage.
Did he marry again?
In a 2016 interview account, he said he had remarried in Belgium. He also questioned the validity of his earlier Brazilian wedding.
When did he die?
Belgian coverage reported his death in October 2021 and gave his age as 45. His exact birth date remains uncertain because published ages differ.
