How Linda Perry and Sara Gilbert Avoided a ‘Messy’ Divorce and Are Still So Close They’re ‘Always Together’

Linda Perry and Sara Gilbert may have gone their separate ways, but they’ll always be family.

The singer-songwriter, 59, tells PEOPLE in this week’s issue that despite splitting in 2019, she and Gilbert, 49, remain “best friends” as they co-parent their child Rhodes, 9.

“We’re never not going to be a family,” Perry says. “There doesn’t feel like much of a separation because we’re always together.”

The former 4 Non Blondes singer and The Conners actress tied the knot in Malibu in 2014 after meeting at a dinner party. Though their divorce was finalized in 2021, it hasn’t affected the way they’ve chosen to raise their child, as Perry says the pair remain “on the same page” when it comes to parenthood.

Actress Sara Gilbert (L) and producer/musician Linda Perry attend Power of Pink 2014 Benefiting the Cancer Prevention Program at Saint John’s Health Center at House of Blues Sunset Strip on October 23, 2014 in West Hollywood, California.

“It’s really a beautiful relationship,” she says. “And I’m just so lucky to have that because when you separate from your baby’s parent, that can go all different types of crazy and messy, and it’s not like that at all. It’s like Sara has to kick me out of the house. I want to be over there all the time. I mean, she’s like, ‘Don’t you have a home to go to?’ I’m like, ‘Yeah, but I’m with my family.’”

The two remain so close, in fact, that Gilbert even appears in Perry’s new documentary Linda Perry: Let It Die Here, which premiered at the Tribeca Festival in New York City on June 6.

“I think people gravitate towards Linda since she’s authentic,” Gilbert says in the documentary. “I think people are drawn to the truth, and people are drawn to authenticity… There’s this sort of rough exterior [where] it seems like it’s hard to get close. But then there’s this heart of gold underneath.”