Music History Events: Couplings
March 12, 2016 Ariana Grande hosts Saturday Night Live, where she meets her future fiancé, cast member Pete Davidson. They don't go through with the wedding, but he gets a mention in her 2018 song "Thank U, Next."More
November 5, 1988 Edie Brickell & New Bohemians are the musical guests on Saturday Night Live. Brickell meets Paul Simon on the broadcast, who she marries in 1992.
February 21, 1984 Bill Wyman of The Rolling Stones meets 13-year-old Mandy Smith at the Lyceum in London. They get married five years later, when he is 52 and she is 18.
December 25, 1980 Michael Jackson calls Paul McCartney to wish him Merry Christmas and suggest they write some songs together. They end up recording three duets together (including the lead single to Thriller), but their friendship ends when Jackson buys the publishing rights to McCartney's songs.More
March 5, 1975 Rod Stewart meets the Swedish actress Britt Ekland when she comes backstage after his concert at the Los Angeles Forum, kicking off an affair that results in a famous song and a nasty lawsuit.More
October 25, 1961 Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, who haven't seen each other since primary school, run into each other at the Dartford train station in England - Keith is on his way to Sidcup Art College; Mick is headed to the London School of Economics. Noticing the Muddy Waters and Chuck Berry albums Mick is carrying, Keith strikes up a conversation. They later form The Rolling Stones.
July 6, 1957 Paul McCartney and John Lennon meet for the first time at the Village Fete in the Liverpool suburb of Woolton, where Lennon's group, the Quarrymen, are performing. When they meet again, Lennon asks McCartney to join his band.
December 6, 2025 Katy Perry goes Instagram official with Justin Trudeau, the former prime minister of Canada, posting a series of photos of them coupling up in Japan.More
September 24, 2023 Taylor Swift takes in the Chiefs/Bears game at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City as a guest of Chiefs star Travis Kelce, a potential love interest. Ratings spike among teenage girls, and Kelce jerseys register a surge in sales.
March 28, 2017 Bruno Mars kicks off his 24K Magic World Tour in Antwerp, Belgium. His opening act is Anderson .Paak, whom he meets for the first time. They become fast friends and decide to form a duo that becomes Silk Sonic, an homage to '70s soul that has one of the biggest hits of 2022 with "Leave The Door Open."
September 23, 2013 A$AP Rocky's "Fashion Killa" video premieres on BET's 106 & Park. It stars Rihanna, who gets a mention in the song ("Her attitude Rihanna"), as his love interest. They couple up in 2020 and start a family in 2022 with their son RZA.
August 29, 2002 Enrique Iglesias and the tennis star Anna Kournikova show up as a couple for the first time when they attend the MTV Video Music Awards, where Eminem takes Video Of The Year for "Without Me."
December 21, 2001 Enrique Iglesias meets Anna Kournikova, a tennis player who is burning up the internet, at the shoot for his "Escape" video, where she plays his love interest. Their on-screen romance turns real; they begin dating and become partners, raising three kids together.
December 22, 1993 Vince Gill meets Amy Grant when she appears on his televised Christmas special, where they duet on "Tennessee Christmas." Sparks fly, but they're both married. They grow closer over the next few years and start dating in 1999 after both are divorced; in 2000 they wed.
February 27, 1993 Producer Rick Rubin sees Johnny Cash perform at the Rhythm Café in Santa Ana, California, and convinces him to make an album of stripped-down cover songs. With Rubin producing, he makes the album American Recordings, which revives his career. They team up to record five more minimalist albums before Cash's death in 2003.
August 29, 1980 TV star Valerie Bertinelli goes to a Van Halen concert in Shreveport, Louisiana, and finagles her way backstage to meet Eddie Van Halen, whom she considers a "cutie." It's a love connection: They get married less than a year later and have a son, Wolfgang, in 1991. They split in 2001 and finalize their divorce in 2007.
June 7, 1978 Tom Petty meets Bob Dylan for the first time backstage after Dylan's show at the Universal Amphitheater in Los Angeles.More
June 30, 1975 Bob Dylan spots Scarlet Rivera, a striking redhead with a violin, while driving in New York City. That night, he takes her to a Muddy Waters concert where they both take the stage as guest musicians. Dylan enlists her to play violin on his Desire album (most notably on the song "Hurricane"), and she joins his Rolling Thunder Revue.
May 27, 1974 Five-year-old Lisa Marie Presley first meets Michael Jackson in Lake Tahoe, where her father had been performing. The pair will marry 20 years later in a union that lasts two years.
November 9, 1971 Carly Simon attends James Taylor's concert at Carnegie Hall and meets him backstage. They get together that night, become inseparable, and marry a year later (their divorce is finalized in 1983).
September 23, 1970 Mick Jagger meets Bianca Rose Pérez Moreno De Macías for the first time after a concert in Paris. They get married the next year but divorce in 1978.
May 15, 1967 Paul McCartney first meets Linda Eastman at a Georgie Fame concert in London. They get married two years later, a union that lasts until her death in 1998.
November 9, 1966 John Lennon visits London's Indica Gallery to see the exhibit Unfinished Paintings and Objects and meets the artist behind the showing, Yoko Ono. She presents him with a card that simply says, "Breathe," and he responds by panting. He attempts to hammer a nail into one of her interactive artworks, which invites viewers to do just that; since the exhibit does not open to the public till the next day, however, Ono refuses, leading the gallery's owner to beg her to reconsider due to John's fame. Ono still refuses, claiming to have never heard of The Beatles, but says he can hammer one in for five shillings. John responds that he'll let her have an imaginary five shillings if he can hammer in an imaginary nail. Two years later, the two meet again and quickly fall in love.
April 18, 1963 After a Beatles performance at Royal Albert Hall in London for the radio show Swingin' Sound '63, Paul McCartney meets the actress Jane Asher. They become one of the most popular couples in England and get engaged, but they never marry and split up in 1968. This relationship inspires several Beatles songs, including "All My Loving" and "I'm Looking Through You."
September 13, 1959 Elvis Presley meets his future wife Priscilla Beaulieu at a party at his house in Germany, where he is serving in the US Army. They hit it off that night, with Elvis playing her some songs on guitar.
August 14, 1837 German composers Robert Schumann and Clara Wieck become secretly engaged.
November 4, 2015 Gwen Stefani and country singer Blake Shelton, co-stars on The Voice, officially announce they are dating. Stefani recently separated from her husband, Gavin Rossdale.
October 12, 2009 Justin Bieber, 16, meets 14-year-old fan Hailey Baldwin (daughter of actor Stephen Baldwin) backstage at the Today show. Years later they start dating, and in 2018 they get married.
March 21, 2009 The movie Northern Lights, starring LeAnn Rimes and Eddie Cibrian, debuts on Lifetime as rumors of the stars' extramarital affair are swirling in the press. They end up divorcing their spouses and marrying each other.
September 19, 2005 Fergie, along with her group The Black Eyed Peas, appears on the "Viva Las Vegas" episode of Las Vegas, where she meets the show's star, Josh Duhamel. They get married in 2009.
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