Belinda Carlisle Shares Secrets to 40-Year Love Story with Husband Morgan Mason: 'Lucky We Found Each Other' (Exclusive)

For almost 40 years, Belinda Carlisle and her husband, Morgan Mason, had a whirlwind romance.

The Go-Go singer, 66, tells PEOPLE in this week’s issue that she and retired film producer Morgan Mason, who married in April 1986, are “lucky to have found each other.”

In fact, Carlisle moved in with him the day after they met at a party in 1984. “We’ve been together ever since,” she explains.

Morgan Mason and Belinda Carlisle in January 1993.

Ron Galella, Ltd/Collection of Ron Galella via Getty

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The “Vacation” singer says she and Mason, 69, are both independent, but also spend a lot of time enjoying life together. “It just works,” Carlisle says. “But if he wants to go play golf or do something for the day, that’s fine. We don’t really tell each other what to do.”

Carlisle, who loves to travel, goes on “crazy trips once or twice a year” that her husband doesn’t always like to join. Instead, she recruits her girlfriends.

But admittedly, Carlisle says they “rarely ever separate.”

“We love being together and we love each other’s company,” she says. “We were very, very lucky to find each other 40 years ago.”

So what’s the secret to their lasting marriage? “We laugh a lot,” she explains.

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Belinda Carlisle, James Duke Mason and Morgan Mason.

Belinda Carlisle/Instagram

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Carlisle and Mason also grew up as parents to son James Duke Mason, 32, who identifies as gay.

She has always been a big believer in letting her son “be himself.”

“My son came out when he was 14,” Carlisle recalls. “So, obviously, our attitude towards parenting gave him the confidence to do it. We accepted him, of course.”

For the “Circle in the Sand” performer, who talked about experiencing abuse while growing up, it was important to “break the chain” as a parent.

“From that upbringing, I always lived in my own world and always pretended to be a singer. I think that children who grow up like that are capable of creating these very realistic fantasy worlds. What I learned is to create your own reality,” she recalls.

For more on Belinda Carlisle, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE magazine, on newsstands everywhere Friday.

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Source: HIS Education