Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce reportedly took over Madison Square Garden for their wedding — but this Black celebrity did it first
TheGrio...
Remember when Sly Stone shut down Madison Square Garden for his nuptials with model and actress Kathy Silva in 1974?
Taylor Swift and NFL star Travis Kelce reportedly shut down Madison Square Garden on Friday, July 3, and several other sections of New York City, for their top-secret nuptials.
But long before “The Life of a Showgirl” artist and the Kansas City Chiefs star took over the Garden with nearly 1,000 guests, more than 40 years ago, the one and only Sly Stone married model and actress Kathy Silva on the venue’s stage in a ceremony dripping with spectacle.
On June 5, 1974, the late Family Stone frontman, then 31, and his bride, then 21, were married on stage at the historic venue, becoming the first couple to do so, the New Yorker reported a few months after. Surrounded by 23,000 fans, TV cameras, reporters, friends, and family, they exchanged vows in what has been described as one of the most over-the-top and decadent celebrity weddings ever staged. It also doubled as a Family Stone concert.
The timing had everything to do with it. The wedding came about a year after the couple welcomed their son, Sylvester Jr., and in the middle of a Family Stone tour. With the band already booked to play Madison Square Garden and Sly arguably at the height of his fame, capping the night with a wedding simply felt right.
Sly said he wanted to finally make an honest woman out of Silva, especially after the couple’s original plans to marry in her native Hawaii fell through.
Meanwhile, Silva famously said, “When you are as much in love as Sly and I are, you just go to extremes and get married.”
And go to extremes they did. Stone had one demand for the festivities: that it be the biggest wedding of the year. Designed by producer Joe Eula—fresh off producing the legendary Battle of Versailles Fashion Show just a year earlier—the lavish affair pulled out every stop imaginable, transforming Madison Square Garden into a glittering cathedral fit for rock royalty. Twelve Black models dressed in dramatic black gowns carried gold palm fronds down the aisle before the bride and groom made their entrance in coordinating custom gold Halston looks.
For his part, Sly wore a shimmering gold jumpsuit, unzipped partially to reveal his chest, beneath a sweeping matching cape. His voluminous Afro framed his face, while his signature aviator sunglasses stayed on through the duration of the ceremony. Silva matched the extravagance in a coordinating sparkling gold halter gown that skimmed the floor, complete with a liquid-like train that pooled behind her. She wore her waist-length hair sleek and straight, threaded with crystals. According to Vogue, Halston crafted both ensembles from a custom three-dimensional gold chiffon fabric as well as nearly 28 other looks for the occasion, including the palm leaf bearers.
The couple exchanged vows before the packed arena, and when the crowd’s excitement threatened to overtake the ceremony, Sly’s mother reportedly reminded everyone they were witnessing a sacred occasion. Bishop B.R. Stewart, a prominent Black faith leader from Stone’s hometown of San Francisco who had known him since childhood, officiated. In rare footage recently released by WFAA, the attendees were beside themselves with excitement.
Gold remained the theme well into the night. The roughly 400 guests invited to the reception at the Waldorf-Astoria’s Starlight Roof—an affair that Columbia Records reportedly spent more than $25,000 on—were instructed to wear something gold. The guest list, featuring Andy Warhol, Donyale Luna, Diane von Furstenberg, and others, could have doubled as that of Studio 54. Personal touches were woven throughout the evening, from a menu featuring soul food and Japanese cuisine honoring the couple’s respective heritages to New York-produced champagne celebrating the host city. Their six-tier wedding cake, topped with an oversized gold record, paid tribute to the music industry that made the night possible. The bride and groom arrived well after 1 a.m., and it was still raging on well past 3.
And this was actually them scaled back. Plans for live doves were tabled when the ASPCA caught wind, as was an idea to have Luna fly over the Madison Square Garden crowd, scattering gold flecks like Tinker Bell. Organizers also reportedly unsuccessfully lobbied the Waldorf-Astoria to reopen the Starlight Roof’s literal rooftop for the celebration. Despite all the grandeur, however, the marriage was short-lived. The couple separated just months later and officially divorced two years after saying “I do.”
Looking back, in his memoir before his death in June 2025, “Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)” Stone summed up the night: “The party was drinking and dancing and smoking and joking … the kind of thing you remember only from the pictures you see afterward.”