Bebe Buell, 72, Is More Than Just Liv Tyler’s Mom: A Look Back at the Ultimate It Girl of the ’70s Rock Scene
See what she had to say about Steven Tyler and her unconventional family situation
The ’70s rock and roll scene was filled with its wild decadence, and at the center of it all was Bebe Buell. Known today for being the mom of none other than actress Liv Tyler, Buell started her career as a model and dated many of the era’s most iconic rock stars before becoming a musician in her own right. Because of her rolodex of rock star relationships, Buell is considered one of the era’s foremost groupies—though she has decidedly mixed feelings about the label.
Read on to learn all about Buell’s fabulous life, from her steamy romances to her modeling and music career to her relationship with her famous daughter.
How Bebe Buell became a ’70s icon
Bebe Buell, born Beverle Lorence Buell, was discovered by Eileen Ford, the star-making founder of the Ford model agency, right after she graduated from high school. Her striking looks earned her steady work, and she became a fixture in New York’s thriving club scene. In November of 1974, she caused a stir when she became Playboy’s Playmate of the Month, but the scandal of being a mainstream model in an adult publication only enhanced her It Girl status.
Buell’s relationships during this era were the stuff of rock legend, as she dated Mick Jagger, Iggy Pop, David Bowie, Jimmy Page, Todd Rundgren, Steven Tyler, Elvis Costello and Rod Stewart, to name just a few. Looking back at her love life, Buell told New York magazine, “I had lovely boyfriends. For your first three boyfriends to be Mick Jagger, Todd Rundgren and David Bowie, I don’t think anyone would have a problem with that.”
Bebe Buell’s unconventional family
Bebe Buell and “Hello It’s Me” singer Todd Rundgren lived together, but they both had flings with other people, which was common in their wild milieu. As she quipped decades later in her New York interview, “I think every little girl would like exclusivity, but that wasn’t how it was. If you had a jealous streak, the ’70s wasn’t your era.”
While Rundgren was seeing other women, Buell had an affair with Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler, and she gave birth to his daughter, Liv, in 1977. At the time, Tyler was in the throes of drug addiction, so Rundgren signed her birth certificate and Liv was originally given his last name.
Buell raised her daughter as a single mom, and Liv initially believed that Rundgren was her father. It wasn’t until she was around 10 that she became suspicious about who her biological father was, and when she met Tyler at a Rundgren concert at age 11, she instantly felt a connection and noted her resemblance to him, leading her mother to finally reveal the truth.
As you might expect, this revelation wasn’t easy for Liv, who recalled, “As a child I didn’t understand why that would happen—how that could happen. Everybody had a different interpretation [of the situation] and how they participated.” Over the years, she’s developed strong relationships with both Tyler and Rundgren, and told The Guardian, “Both my fathers are unconventional. They are like unicorns or wizards. They are musicians through and through. The way they think is just different. Their eccentricities have made me more practical and more normal, in a way.”
In her Guardian interview, Liv said that when she realized Steven Tyler was her father, “it was a moment that was bigger than me, it was almost spiritual,” and she revealed that rather than feeling betrayed by Rundgren, she’s ultimately become “grateful,” explaining, “It’s a big thing for a man to say, ‘I know this kid might not be mine, but I still want to be her father.’ Although he and my mom weren’t together, he was always a very stable, loving force in my life.”
Speaking to Fox News in 2017, Buell stated that while Rundgren and Tyler hold special places in her heart, her relationship with the former is somewhat strained. “My dream is that he can let go of any anger he may feel. Liv adores him,” she said. “I will love him forever. And hopefully one day, he will realize that everything happens for a reason. I’ve apologized as humbly as I could for any pain I may have caused. I’ve extended an olive branch. But I can’t worry about it anymore.”
In the same interview, she said she and Tyler “will forever be bonded,” adding, “Steven has apologized for his bad behavior, and his actions have spoken for themselves. Our daughter is a beautiful human being, and she turned out great. I will love him forever, too.”
Bebe Buell’s rebellious legacy—and what she’s up to now
Buell has long been described as a groupie, and was even cited as a source of inspiration for Kate Hudson’s groupie character in the 2000 film Almost Famous, but she takes issue with the term. “I consider ‘groupie’ a sexist term, and I think it’s misused,” she told New York magazine. “I was a free agent. I was a very independent, successful girl. I made my own money, I bought my own airline tickets. When I got a paycheck, I went to Bergdorf and I bought my own clothes. There were no rock stars buying me my clothes.”
By the ’80s, Buell was fed up with being perpetually perceived as a rocker’s side chick, and embarked on the musical career she had long dreamed of, telling Fox News, “People immediately want to say, ‘Groupie this,’ or ‘Slut that.’ People have this really warped vision of the reality of my life. I was a fashion model who, yes, dated very interesting and fascinating men. But music had been there from the very beginning.”
Buell released her debut EP in 1981, and started the rock bands the B-Sides and the Gargoyles, but neither of them lasted long. In 1994, she released her first proper solo album, Retrosexual. She then stepped away from music to serve as her daughter’s manager, but she’s since made a triumphant return, releasing a number of albums and performing her hard-rocking songs live. Her most recent record, Hard Love, came out in 2021.
Buell has written two memoirs, Rebel Heart: An American Rock ‘n’ Roll Journey (2001) and Rebel Soul: Music, Musings, & Magic (2023). Unsurprisingly, given the enduring nostalgia for the ’70s music scene, Rebel Heart was a bestseller, and readers couldn’t get enough of all the juicy rock star drama.
Buell will forever be known as a wild child, but she did eventually settle down. In 1992, she married musician and actor Francis “Coyote” Shivers. They divorced in 1999, and since 2002, she’s been happily married to musician Jim Wallerstein. Wallerstein, who is 15 years Buell’s junior, is her guitarist and the pair has written many songs together.
This summer, Buell released “Skin Suit,” a single inspired by her battle with breast cancer. She was diagnosed with the disease in 2024, and is currently cancer-free. Speaking to Rolling Stone when her latest song was released, she said, “I’m trying to age gracefully and show people that you can be very alive and very on the road to healing at all ages. And music is healing.”
Now 72, married for nearly 25 years and living a low-key and creatively fulfilling life in Nashville, Buell says, “I am not just sitting there, melancholy, thinking about the cool guys I dated when I was 24,” and it’s clear that she’s still one of the ultimate cool girls.
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