Dan Aykroyd, the former fiancé of the late Carrie Fisher, has chosen to speak out regarding her death with a touching remembrance in London’s Empire magazine. The couple had initially met when Fisher hosted an episode of Saturday Night Live in 1978, and their romance blossomed during the filming of Blues Brothers in 1980. Ultimately, though, Fisher left Aykroyd to marry Paul Simon shortly after their engagement. In his tribute, Aykroyd wryly recalls their courtship and how they fell in love on the set of the classic John Landis film. “While in Chicago we obtained blood tests for compatibility from an East Indian female doctor. Contemplating marriage, I gave Carrie a sapphire ring and subsequently in the romance she gave me a Donald Roller Wilson oil painting of a monkey in a blue dress next to a tiny floating pencil, which I kept for years until it began to frighten my children,†he wrote. “One of the most brilliant and hilarious minds of our eon … you can imagine how much of a privilege and honour it was for me to have known this one-off, broke-the-mould woman as a great friend.†An LSD-heavy trip the couple took in Lake Tahoe was also outlined in detail, where they “rented a wagon and checked in for three days of full-on weeping to Christmas classics.â€
Aykroyd ended his tribute by fondly reminiscing about their final romantic weekend together, when they ill-fatedly moved from Chicago to Martha’s Vineyard, much to Fisher’s chagrin. He would later marry the actress Donna Dixon in 1983.
The next morning she asked me to drive her to the airport and she flew to New York. Architectural reservations notwithstanding, Carrie wasn’t shallow, we had a great time. She was also in love with Paul Simon. She married him but I hope she kept my ring.