Inside Beyonce and Jay Z’s rocky 23-year romance – fairytale wedding to cheating heartbreak
Beyoncé and Jay-Z celebrate their 15th wedding anniversary on 4 April, and the powerhouse couple are nothing if not honest when it comes to talking about the highs and lows of their relationship.
Given that they met in 2000 when Beyoncé was 18, and 12 years Jay-Z ’s junior, the odds of their relationship lasting so long were stacked against them.
They might be two of the most successful recording artists of all time, but they’ve faced multiple challenges, from Jay-Z’s infidelity to family fallouts and their struggle to have children.
Despite the ups and downs, Beyoncé and her husband seem stronger than ever.
When they first met, it’s perhaps understandable that Jay-Z – whose real name is Shawn Carter – was more sure of his feelings than Bey, who has admitted to taking more time to commit.
Beyoncé and Jay-Z celebrate their 15th wedding anniversary on 4 April (Image: Getty Images for Parkwood Entertainment)
In an interview in 2009, she said, “I was 18 when we first met, 19 when we first started dating.
I really don’t believe that you will love the same thing when you’re 20 as you do at 30. So that was my rule – before the age of 25, I would never get married.”
The singer – who in February made history when she became the biggest-ever Grammy winner after clocking up 32 awards – added, “We were friends first. Before we went on any dates, we were on the phone for a year and a half. That foundation is so important in a relationship.”
The couple fell in love though, and it wasn’t long before they were collaborating musically.
Their first joint project was the rapper’s 2002 track 03 Bonnie & Clyde, which was closely followed by her monster hit Crazy In Love.
The couple with daughter Blue Ivy (Image: Getty Images for NARAS)
As the title would suggest, the track was inspired by the fact that Beyoncé, now 41, was besotted with Jay-Z and personal disclosure through their music would become a theme for both artists throughout their relationship.
That said, one aspect of their lives that they did manage to keep under wraps was their 2008 wedding, which took place on 4 April at Jay-Z’s Manhattan penthouse.
It wasn’t until years later that fans were given a glimpse of the glamorous nuptials, when Jay, now 53, posted footage of the ceremony on Instagram to celebrate their seventh anniversary.
The shots showed the groom, dressed in a tuxedo, slipping a ring on to his new wife’s finger. Beyoncé, meanwhile – who looked elegant in a strapless wedding gown – is shown punching the air in jubilation after saying “I do”.
But while the wedding snaps made it look like a fairy-tale romance, Beyoncé has always been honest about the fact that you have to take the rough with the smooth in a relationship.
She said, “I don’t care if you’re picture-perfect on every magazine cover and you’re the most handsome, successful, coolest guy – you still get sad and you still get your feelings hurt, and you still get confused and vulnerable and nervous and scared. You have to find a person you can make it through the tough times with.”
Becoming parents often puts a strain on relationships, but the birth of their first child, daughter Blue Ivy, on 7 January 2012, left the Single Ladies singer feeling more loved-up than ever.
The couple felt the strain on their relationship
In her 2013 autobiographical film Life Is But A Dream, she said, “This baby has made me love him more than I ever thought I could love another human being. It’s just that I love him so much that we almost feel like one. I don’t know how to describe it.”
However, her road to motherhood was far from smooth and in the same film she opened up about suffering a miscarriage before their daughter was born.
While they might have felt “joy” after Blue’s arrival, the couple were about to be rocked by a shocking – and very public – incident.
When footage emerged of Beyoncé’s younger sister, Solange, 36, violently attacking Jay-Z in a lift following 2014’s Met Gala, it seemed there was trouble in paradise.
The clip instantly went viral, with fans believing Solange’s actions were linked to the rumours Jay-Z had cheated on her sister.
Days later, the family released a statement saying they had “worked through it”, adding, “Jay and Solange each assume their share of responsibility for what has occurred. They both acknowledge their role in this private matter that has played out in the public… We’ve put this behind us and hope everyone else will do the same.”
The couple, who live in an $88 million home in Bel Air, Los Angeles, may have claimed they’d moved on from the drama, but when Beyoncé released her explosive album Lemonade in 2016, the lyrics left fans in no doubt she’d been cheated on.
On Sorry, she sang, “He only want me when I’m not there / He better call Becky with the good hair,” while on Pray You Catch Me she wrote, “You can taste the dishonesty / It’s all over your breath as you pass it off so cavalier.”
The couple met when Beyonce was 18 (Image: Kevork Djansezian/AP/REX/Shutterstock)
Jay Z previously spoke about the mistakes he made (Image: Getty Images for Parkwood Entertainment)
A year later, Jay-Z had his say in his album 4:44, where he talked about mistakes he’d made in his marriage and the shame he felt.
In an interview, he said, “The hardest thing is seeing pain on someone’s face that you caused and then have to deal with yourself. So, you know, most people don’t want to do that. You don’t want to look inside yourself. And so you walk away.”
He admitted it was “very, very uncomfortable” to hear each other’s songs about their problems but said, “We were using our art like a therapy session.”
After navigating this painful patch in their marriage, it seemed as though the couple had come out the other side by the time Beyoncé broke the joyful news on 1 February 2017 that they were expecting twins.
Rumi and Sir were born on 13 June of that year, making their first public appearance in a now-iconic photograph posted on Instagram, which showed Beyoncé holding her new son and daughter against a backdrop of a flower arch.
The following year, the singer celebrated her 37th birthday and revealed that she and Jay-Z had renewed their wedding vows.
She said, “At 36, I became a new mother of three. I breastfed twins. I renewed my vows with my husband of 10 years. I’m looking forward to continuing to learn from my past, living in the present and surrendering to the future.”
This mantra certainly seems to be working for the singer. At this year’s Grammys, she took home four awards for her latest number one album Renaissance.
But while her career goes from strength to strength, Beyoncé is always quick to remind her fans what matters to her the most. In one of her many acceptance speeches, she said, “I’d like to thank my beautiful husband and my beautiful three children.”
Whatever it is they’re doing, it seems to be working for them. Happy anniversary guys – and here’s to many more!
