Celebrity power couples who work together, play together and don’t get bored with one another might seem like a rarity these days. In the face of some of our favourite stars going through sour splits — Ryan Reynolds and Scarlett Johannsson, Courtney Cox and David Arquette, Will Arnett and Amy Poehler — romances that are still standing are just that bit sweeter to see. This Valentine’s Day, tabloid! rounds up five business-and-pleasure couples who have made it through rain and shine... so far.
Kim Kardashian and Kanye West
Separately, they’ve each proven themselves masters of their own craft. Kanye West raised the bar for rappers across the globe with his unflinching confidence, while Kim Kardashian, tending to her chaotic family and multiple business ventures, made it virtually impossible for another reality star to reach her level of fame and fortune.
But the megastars are better off keeping their relationship off-camera. Their attempts at joining forces creatively in West’s music video for Bound 2 — he’s seen riding a motorcycle with a lapful of his exposed fiance — were met mostly with amusement and ridicule.
West doesn’t mind, it seems — he prefers to think of their bond outside of celebrity terms.
“I felt like when we first got together, it was like a Romeo and Juliet kind of thing, where it’s like, she’s a reality star and I’m a rapper, and people talk about how our brands connect and what doesn’t fit,” he said in a radio interview. “And I’m just so tired of the conversation of brands… Why don’t we start the conversation with love? Why don’t we start the conversation with God? Why don’t we start this conversation with family? It’s not about branding at a certain point.”
Well said, Mr West.
David and Victoria Beckham
When they started dating in 1997, David and Victoria Beckham were loved enough by the media that they were spared the horror of a cringe-worthy portmanteau. Brangelina and Tomkat couldn’t hold a candle to Britain’s most-loved footballer with the shaggy blonde hair and his model-esque pop star girlfriend known simply as “Posh and Becks”.
A two-time runner up for Fifa World Player of the Year, David married the Spice Girl, known for her cool exterior and enviable sense of style, in 2007. In the years since, they’ve excelled at a variety of things: being unfairly photogenic, parenting four children who look like they’ve come straight out of a trendy photo shoot, and making more money in one day than most people would know what to do with in a lifetime.
The pair have three companies — Beckham Ventures Ltd, which handles Victoria’s fashion line, Footwork Productions, David’s sports company, and finally, Brand Beckham, a joint venture between the two — that rake in a meagre £100,000 (Dh602,708) a day, according to a Sky News report from last year.
Despite rumours of infidelity and troubled waters popping up every once in a while, Victoria had nothing but good things to say about her hubby in a 2013 Vogue interview that saw the loved-up couple on the cover: “David and I have been through so much together. We’ve had our ups and downs, but we’re so proud of each other.”
Jay Z and Beyonce
Every time we think Jay Z and Beyonce have reached ultimate power couple status, they find a way to outdo themselves, and the last couple of whirlwind years were no exception.
In 2012 — after welcoming daughter Blue Ivy Carter into the world — Jay Z was estimated to be worth $500 million by Forbes magazine, making him one of the most successful hip-hop artists of all time. In 2013, Beyonce, one of Time’s 100 Most Influential People in the World, shook the music industry by dropping a full-length visual album in December without prior announcement, rocketing up the charts with it overnight.
The pair doesn’t separate business and pleasure and have dished out more collaborations than you could count on both hands, from Crazy in Love in 2003 to Drunk in Love ten years later. They opened up this year’s Grammy Awards with an unforgettably steamy performance of the latter hit before Jay Z snagged the Best Rap/Sung Collaboration, upping their overall collection to a staggering 17 Grammy Awards each. For those wondering, that’s 34 golden gramophones between the two of them — it’s no wonder Jay said he’d use his latest as a sippy cup for Blue Ivy.
“I would not be the woman I am if I did not go home to that man,” Beyonce told Oprah, sharing that the secret to their strong foundation was a year-and-a-half of friendship before they ever went on a date.
Paul and Linda McCartney
If you think The Beatles were Paul McCartney’s one true love, think again. The coveted spot in his heart belongs to his first wife, Linda McCartney. She was his companion on the road for a decade and his partner at home for three.
In 1969, the couple married, and two years later, they decided to start a little musical band by the name of Wings. The band, originally including session drummer Denny Seiwell and guitarist Denny Laineand, stuck together for ten years and seven albums. The McCartneys’ often took their four children along with them on their tours around the world.
Linda was known for being a vegetarian (with her own brand of meat-free food), an animal-lover and an avid horseback rider. She succumbed to cancer at the age of 56 in 1998. Paul later admitted that he had kept the truth of just how sick she was from her, thinking it wouldn’t do her any good to know she was dying.
“This is a total heartbreak for my family and I. Linda was, and still is, the love of my life,” Paul wrote in a statement following her death. “I am privileged to have been her lover for 30 years, and in all that time, except for one enforced absence, we never spent a single night apart. When people asked why, we would say, ‘What for?’”
Tim Burton and Helena Bonham Carter
Despite being quirky and unusual in their personalities and aesthetic (think Goth-meets-pre-Victorian era), one look at director Tim Burton and actress Helena Bonham Carter will have you thinking the most cliched thought of all: it must be fate.
The two met in 2001 when Burton, known for his fantastical and visually gripping on-screen interpretations, directed the versatile Bonham Carter in Planet of the Apes. It was a match made in heaven, and their chemistry led them to work together on an impressive seven films since, including Big Fish, Corpse Bride and Alice in Wonderland.
Off-screen, the two are just as non-conforming. Instead of a big manor with the white picket fence, they live in two adjoining houses along with their son and daughter, Billy and Nell. Why did they choose to separate their headquarters? Partially because Burton snores (he refuses to operate on his deviated septum), and partially because Bonham Carter is “outrageously bossy”, but more importantly, it allows them just the right amount of space to keep them closer than ever.
“We see as much of each other as any couple, but our relationship is enhanced by knowing we have our personal space to retreat to,” said Bonham Carter in an interview, and then, speaking on the radio, added: “It’s not enforced intimacy. It’s chosen, which is quite flattering — if you can afford it.”
Kim Kardashian and Kanye West
Separately, they’ve each proven themselves masters of their own craft. Kanye West raised the bar for rappers across the globe with his unflinching confidence, while Kim Kardashian, tending to her chaotic family and multiple business ventures, made it virtually impossible for another reality star to reach her level of fame and fortune.
But the megastars are better off keeping their relationship off-camera. Their attempts at joining forces creatively in West’s music video for Bound 2 — he’s seen riding a motorcycle with a lapful of his exposed fiance — were met mostly with amusement and ridicule.
West doesn’t mind, it seems — he prefers to think of their bond outside of celebrity terms.
“I felt like when we first got together, it was like a Romeo and Juliet kind of thing, where it’s like, she’s a reality star and I’m a rapper, and people talk about how our brands connect and what doesn’t fit,” he said in a radio interview. “And I’m just so tired of the conversation of brands… Why don’t we start the conversation with love? Why don’t we start the conversation with God? Why don’t we start this conversation with family? It’s not about branding at a certain point.”
Well said, Mr West.
David and Victoria Beckham
When they started dating in 1997, David and Victoria Beckham were loved enough by the media that they were spared the horror of a cringe-worthy portmanteau. Brangelina and Tomkat couldn’t hold a candle to Britain’s most-loved footballer with the shaggy blonde hair and his model-esque pop star girlfriend known simply as “Posh and Becks”.
A two-time runner up for Fifa World Player of the Year, David married the Spice Girl, known for her cool exterior and enviable sense of style, in 2007. In the years since, they’ve excelled at a variety of things: being unfairly photogenic, parenting four children who look like they’ve come straight out of a trendy photo shoot, and making more money in one day than most people would know what to do with in a lifetime.
The pair have three companies — Beckham Ventures Ltd, which handles Victoria’s fashion line, Footwork Productions, David’s sports company, and finally, Brand Beckham, a joint venture between the two — that rake in a meagre £100,000 (Dh602,708) a day, according to a Sky News report from last year.
Despite rumours of infidelity and troubled waters popping up every once in a while, Victoria had nothing but good things to say about her hubby in a 2013 Vogue interview that saw the loved-up couple on the cover: “David and I have been through so much together. We’ve had our ups and downs, but we’re so proud of each other.”
Jay Z and Beyonce
Every time we think Jay Z and Beyonce have reached ultimate power couple status, they find a way to outdo themselves, and the last couple of whirlwind years were no exception.
In 2012 — after welcoming daughter Blue Ivy Carter into the world — Jay Z was estimated to be worth $500 million by Forbes magazine, making him one of the most successful hip-hop artists of all time. In 2013, Beyonce, one of Time’s 100 Most Influential People in the World, shook the music industry by dropping a full-length visual album in December without prior announcement, rocketing up the charts with it overnight.
The pair doesn’t separate business and pleasure and have dished out more collaborations than you could count on both hands, from Crazy in Love in 2003 to Drunk in Love ten years later. They opened up this year’s Grammy Awards with an unforgettably steamy performance of the latter hit before Jay Z snagged the Best Rap/Sung Collaboration, upping their overall collection to a staggering 17 Grammy Awards each. For those wondering, that’s 34 golden gramophones between the two of them — it’s no wonder Jay said he’d use his latest as a sippy cup for Blue Ivy.
“I would not be the woman I am if I did not go home to that man,” Beyonce told Oprah, sharing that the secret to their strong foundation was a year-and-a-half of friendship before they ever went on a date.
Paul and Linda McCartney
If you think The Beatles were Paul McCartney’s one true love, think again. The coveted spot in his heart belongs to his first wife, Linda McCartney. She was his companion on the road for a decade and his partner at home for three.
In 1969, the couple married, and two years later, they decided to start a little musical band by the name of Wings. The band, originally including session drummer Denny Seiwell and guitarist Denny Laineand, stuck together for ten years and seven albums. The McCartneys’ often took their four children along with them on their tours around the world.
Linda was known for being a vegetarian (with her own brand of meat-free food), an animal-lover and an avid horseback rider. She succumbed to cancer at the age of 56 in 1998. Paul later admitted that he had kept the truth of just how sick she was from her, thinking it wouldn’t do her any good to know she was dying.
“This is a total heartbreak for my family and I. Linda was, and still is, the love of my life,” Paul wrote in a statement following her death. “I am privileged to have been her lover for 30 years, and in all that time, except for one enforced absence, we never spent a single night apart. When people asked why, we would say, ‘What for?’”
Tim Burton and Helena Bonham Carter
Despite being quirky and unusual in their personalities and aesthetic (think Goth-meets-pre-Victorian era), one look at director Tim Burton and actress Helena Bonham Carter will have you thinking the most cliched thought of all: it must be fate.
The two met in 2001 when Burton, known for his fantastical and visually gripping on-screen interpretations, directed the versatile Bonham Carter in Planet of the Apes. It was a match made in heaven, and their chemistry led them to work together on an impressive seven films since, including Big Fish, Corpse Bride and Alice in Wonderland.
Off-screen, the two are just as non-conforming. Instead of a big manor with the white picket fence, they live in two adjoining houses along with their son and daughter, Billy and Nell. Why did they choose to separate their headquarters? Partially because Burton snores (he refuses to operate on his deviated septum), and partially because Bonham Carter is “outrageously bossy”, but more importantly, it allows them just the right amount of space to keep them closer than ever.
“We see as much of each other as any couple, but our relationship is enhanced by knowing we have our personal space to retreat to,” said Bonham Carter in an interview, and then, speaking on the radio, added: “It’s not enforced intimacy. It’s chosen, which is quite flattering — if you can afford it.”
