Unexpected musical partnerships that rocked the charts
Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love were the most iconic couple of the '90s and epitomized the grunge movement. They had a whirlwind romance, getting married and having a baby within the first year of meeting. They had a tumultuous relationship marked by substance abuse issues on both sides, and Cobain sadly took his own life at the age of 27 in 1994.
John Lennon and Yoko Ono started dating before the Beatles broke up, but it was after this that they did some of their best work together. They were social activists and counterculture artists doing everything in their power to spread their message of love and peace. They made art together in many different formats and had one son, Sean Lennon. They got married in 1969 and stayed together until Lennon's assassination in 1980.
Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham joined the band Fleetwood Mac as a couple in 1975. They broke up while writing and recording the album 'Rumors' the following year, creating one of the best breakup albums of all time.
Camila Cabello and Shawn Mendes were serious couple goals until their split in 2021. The young couple dated for two years as rising stars, coming out with the hit song 'Señorita.' Even their breakup inspired the song 'When You're Gone' by Mendes.
Cardi B has become one of the biggest names in music over the past decade. Her husband Offset came to fame with phenomenally successful rap group Migos. They have been married since 2017 and have two kids together.
Jessica Simpson was undoubtedly a more popular singer than Nick Lachey when they got married in 2002, but together, they became the Newlyweds. Their reality TV show skyrocketed them to fame as the beautiful girl next door and the boyband stud. They split in 2006.
J. Lo and Sean Combs, who went by the name Puff Daddy at the time, were a couple for two years between 1999 and 2001. They started dating around the time her debut album came out, and her profile was certainly raised by the relationship. Although things ended badly, the two are still good friends.
Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown's relationship was, by all accounts, a toxic one destined for disaster. They both struggled with drug addiction and rumors circulated that Brown was abusive. However bad it was, they were still a musical power couple when they got married in 1992. They got divorced in 2007, and Houston sadly died of an accidental overdose in 2012.
Selena Gomez and Justin Bieber were practically babies when they dated, but they were two of the biggest mega stars in the world at the time. Bieber was transitioning into adulthood following his success as a teen, and Gomez was moving on from her Disney roots. The on-and-off again relationship lasted from 2010 to 2018, and kept them both in the headlines for years.
Taylor Swift has had many famous romances, immortalized in her many songs about her exes, but her relationship with Calvin Harris was one of the longest. They dated for 15 months, but it was their breakup that generated the most media attention, and, perhaps, creativity. Things got nasty when it turned out that Harris' hit with Rihanna, 'This Is What You Came For,' had been written by Swift. There seemed to be a public battle over credit and Swift went on to reference their relationship in songs like 'I Forgot That You Existed.'
Paul and Linda McCartney got married in 1969 while he was in the Beatles and she was working as a photographer. Following the breakup of the Beatles, the couple founded the band Wings with Linda playing the keyboard and providing backing vocals. Their musical collaboration and marriage carried on until Linda sadly died of cancer in 1998.
Carly Simon and James Taylor were two of the most influential singer-songwriters in Los Angeles in the 1970s. They met in 1971 and got married the following year. During the decade they were together they released several duets, including the song 'Devoted to You.' They divorced in 1981 following Taylor's struggles with addiction and rumored infidelities.
Joan Baez was already a well-established folk music star by the time Bob Dylan came around. Baez helped to launch his career, and they dated for a few years before breaking up. The end phase of their relationship was recorded in intimate detail in the 1967 tour documentary 'Bob Dylan: Don't Look Back.'
Tina Turner was beloved as one of the great female vocalists of the 20th century, but before there was Tina, there was Ike & Tina Turner, the husband and wife duo. The pair launched their musical act in 1960 and got married in 1962. They were known for their high-energy performances and R&B hits, but behind the scenes Ike was severely abusive and controlling. Tina finally divorced him in 1978 and launched her own legendary solo career.
Sadly, the harmony in love and music didn't last. Fältskog and Ulvaeus broke up in 1979, inspiring the song 'The Winner Takes It All.' Andersson and Lyngstad separated in 1980 after just two years of marriage. The band decided it was too difficult to carry on after the divorces and decided to go their separate ways. But they reunited to release new music for the first time in decades in 2021.
Folk stars Joni Mitchell and Graham Nash met at a concert in 1968 and hit it off right away. They only dated for about two years, but in that time, Mitchell introduced him to David Crosby and Stephen Stills. The three men formed the influential group Crosby, Stills & Nash. The ups and downs of their relationship inspired two of their most famous songs: 'Blue' by Mitchell and 'Déjà Vu' by Nash.
Avril Lavigne got engaged to Nickelback front man Chad Kroeger in 2012 after just one month of dating. The whirlwind romance was big news at the time, bringing together two unique musicians. Unfortunately, the marriage only lasted two years, but they remain friends.
The Swedish pop super group ABBA consisted of two married couples. Agnetha Fältskog and Björn Ulvaeus (right) got married in 1971, before ABBA shot to fame at the Eurovision Song Contest. Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid Lyngstad (left) got married in 1978 at the height of the band's success.
Both Gwen Stefani and Blake Shelton had high-profile marriages that ended before they found love again with each other. The two musicians had already created immense careers for themselves before they started dating, Stefani as a pop icon and Shelton as a country star. They got married in 2021 after meeting as coaches on 'The Voice.'
Faith Hill and Tim McGraw are the royal couple of country music. They met when they were both up-and-coming artists in the early '90s, but didn't start dating until 1996. They got married that same year and released their first duet, 'It's Your Love,' in 1997. They have done multiple tours together and even a joint Las Vegas residency. Their collaborations have won them Grammys, and their relationship is still going strong.
Similar to Hill and McGraw, Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood are another long-lasting country couple. The pair sang and toured together for years before they started dating, finally tying the knot in 2005. Almost two decades later, they're still going strong.
Björk and Goldie may have been an odd pairing, but as we're seeing with all of the surprising couples in recent years, this is often the best kind of relationship! Goldie was one of the biggest DJs in the UK in the 1990s and Björk was... Björk! They were both pioneers in independent electronic music in very different ways. They dated for a few years in the mid-90s and were one of the most out-there couples of the decade.
Sources: (Billboard) (Dig!) (Spinditty)
Johnny Cash and June Carter were one of the first musical power couples. They came together as stars of country music with successful solo careers, but also toured and sang together. They got married in 1968 and won Grammys together in 1968 and 1971. They stayed together until Carter died in 2003, and Cash passed away a few months after her. Their story is the basis for the 2005 film 'Walk the Line,' starring Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon.
Jack and Meg White made up the two-person band The White Stripes for many years. While they told the world that they were brother and sister, they were actually married. They got married in 1996 and divorced in 2000, but their musical partnership remained strong and they released their most successful albums post-divorce! They decided to disband in 2011.
Bruce Springsteen and Patti Scialfa are one of the longest-lasting couples in the music business. "The Boss" and the guitarist met when Scialfa auditioned and won a place in the famous E Street Band, Springsteen's go-to backing band. They worked together for years before finally starting to date. They got married in 1991 and have been together raising a family and making music ever since.
It's hard to compare the fame of Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake's coupledom. Spears was the biggest star in the world and Timberlake was her perfect match. They dated from 1999 to 2002, and were one of the most high-profile couples of all time. It didn't end well, unfortunately. Timberlake released a breakup album in which he accused Spears of cheating, allegations which she has always denied.
Is there any couple out there as powerful as Beyoncé and Jay-Z? With their independent careers, they have ruled the music industry for the past two decades. In 2022, they tied as the two artists with the most Grammy nominations of all time (they have received a whopping 88 nominations each). They have been married since 2008 and have three kids together.
There are plenty of powerful couples in the celebrity world, with A-list actors marrying famous pop stars and billionaires dating supermodels. However, it's always fascinating to see what creative magic happens when two musicians get together. The sparks that must fly when two gifted people fall in love while making music together! In some cases, the happy couple never collaborated, but their influence on each other is clear.
Unfortunately, many of the most iconic and influential romances in music history ended in disaster, but some are still going strong. Click through this gallery to see which of the most successful artists of all time got together, whether for a fling or forever.
The most influential power couples in music history
From JLo and Sean to Bey and Jay
MUSIC Romance
There are plenty of powerful couples in the celebrity world, with A-list actors marrying famous pop stars and billionaires dating supermodels. However, it's always fascinating to see what creative magic happens when two musicians get together. The sparks that must fly when two gifted people fall in love while making music together! In some cases, the happy couple never collaborated, but their influence on each other is clear.
Unfortunately, many of the most iconic and influential romances in music history ended in disaster, but some are still going strong. Click through this gallery to see which of the most successful artists of all time got together, whether for a fling or forever.