Atila Altaunbay: Grace Jones' Ex-Husband, Explained

Atila Altaunbay: Who Was Grace Jones’ Husband?

Atila Altaunbay was a Turkish-born man best known as Grace Jones’ husband. They married in 1996 and separated around 2004. Reports say he later lived in Belgium and died in October 2021.

Quick Facts

Known for: His marriage to singer, model, and actress Grace Jones
Background: Turkish-born, from a Muslim family, with ties to Belgium
Wedding: February 24, 1996, in Rio de Janeiro, with a second ceremony in Syracuse, New York
Separation: Around 2004
Legal divorce: Disputed
Age: Unclear. His birth year is often given as 1976, but other accounts don’t match
Death: Reported in October 2021. No cause has been made public

There is no official biography of Altaunbay. Most of what’s known comes from Jones’ 2015 memoir, I’ll Never Write My Memoirs, and from secondary reports. Where accounts disagree, this article says so.

Who was Atila Altaunbay?

Most accounts describe him as Turkish-born, raised in a conservative Muslim family, and connected to Belgium. Details about his childhood, education, and family are thin.

How he met Jones depends on who you ask. Some accounts say he was working as a bodyguard at a club in Belgium. Another report describes him as a student there, with his family living in Turkey. Reports agree that they dated privately for a few months before Jones proposed. What happened to Atila Altaunbay? The story of Grace Jones’ ex-husband – Briefly.co.za +2

How old was he?

This is where online biographies fall apart.

Most sites say Altaunbay was born in 1976. Jones was born in May 1948, so she was 47 on the wedding day. A 1976 birth year would make him 19 or 20 then, which roughly fits the 27-year age gap that gets repeated. Legit.ng

Other reports point somewhere else. One says he was 24 when they married, which suggests a birth year around 1971 or 1972. That would make the gap closer to 23 years. It would also put him at about 49 or 50 when he reportedly died, not 45 as many sites claim. A few sites say 21, which fits neither. Amomama

No reliable source we found settles it. Treat any exact age as an estimate.

The marriage

Jones and Altaunbay married on February 24, 1996, in Rio de Janeiro. Reports describe a small ceremony with about 50 guests. Jones has said they tried to keep it private, but the news leaked to the press in Brazil. Atila Altaunbay’s biography: who is Grace Jones’ ex-husband? – Legit.ng +2

The rushed first ceremony reportedly ran into problems with the officiant, and the marriage wasn’t recognized. The couple redid their vows in Syracuse, New York, with Jones’ father officiating. Legit.ng

His family didn’t approve. Reports say tradition expected a youngest son to wait until his older brother married, and that going against his family and faith cost him contact with them. Amomama

How the marriage ended

The couple separated in 2004, about eight years after the wedding. Jones has described a turbulent relationship. She said he could be territorial, and she described a frightening incident in the kitchen involving a weapon. Briefly.co.za Amomama

Were they ever legally divorced?

The record is muddled. Some biography pages list a 2004 divorce. Reports based on Jones’ memoir say no divorce was completed because she couldn’t find him. Jones has also said that, in her view, they were divorced. We found no public court record that settles the question. What happened to Atila Altaunbay? The story of Grace Jones’ ex-husband – Briefly.co.za +2

Later life and death

After the separation, Altaunbay stayed out of the spotlight. Reports place him in Antwerp, Belgium, where he got involved with the charity Helping Hands Belgium. Some accounts call him its president, others its chairman.

Reports say the charity announced his death on its Facebook page in October 2021, and most sites give his age as 45. His cause of death was not disclosed. We found no obituary from a major news outlet, so the death rests on the charity’s post and secondary reports that we could not independently verify. A few websites hint at foul play, but none of the sources we found offers any evidence for that. Legit.ng

FAQs

Was Atila Altaunbay Grace Jones’ only husband?

Yes, according to Jones. She has described him as the only man she ever married. Some websites list an earlier husband, but her own account says otherwise.

What did Atila Altaunbay do for a living?

He is most often described as a bodyguard, and later as a charity leader in Belgium. Other claims, including pizza delivery, modeling, and a film credit, appear on many websites, but we could not trace them to a first-hand source.