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If you’re a musician reading this, you’re most likely already well aware that pursuing a meaningful career in music can be fraught with isolation, loneliness, loss, and enough disappointment to choke a stable of horses. The whole experience of trying to make it in music, from spending months on the road to draining an already-depleted bank account in order to fund an album, is fraught with cruel ways to make even the most emotionally healthy musician go absolutely bonkers with despair.
It might seem that musical romances are naturally simply doomed from the start. But since it’s Valentine’s Day yet again, rather than focus on all that doom and gloom, we’ve got a list of seven music relationships that actually worked out for you to cuddle up next to with your box of musical chocolates. (Don’t think for a second that we weren’t going to use this article as an excuse to talk about musical chocolates.)
Kori Gardner and Jason Hammel (Mates of State)
At it since 1997, the husband-and-wife duo behind indie outfit Mates of State met in Lawrence, Kansas, before moving to California to pursue music. Whatever Gardner and Hammel are doing in their relationship seems to be working, because they’ve managed to remain a delightfully solid indie staple for over two decades without imploding. Oh, and did we mention that they once made an adorable movie that satirizes their relationship, called The Rumperbutts?
Win Butler and Regine Chassagne (Arcade Fire)
Despite what you thought of Everything Now, Arcade Fire has made an indelible impact on alternative music. And when you realize the band is led by a married couple, their contribution to music seems all the more impressive. Chassagne apparently offered to join the band when she was a young music student living in Montreal, Quebec. Butler accepted, and the rest is history. Together, they founded a foundation called Kanpé that seeks to empower the Haitian community both locally in Canada and in Haiti, as well as build awareness about the culture and current living conditions on the island here in North America. Yeah, you could call them a power couple.
Matt Johnson and Kim Schifino (Matt and Kim)
Now virtually inescapable, Matt and Kim’s music has been featured in everything from video games to commercials advertising Bacardi and chocolate bars. Formed in 2004 with no prior musical experience, Johnson and Schifino met while studying at Brooklyn’s Pratt Institute. Dubbed the “quintessential ‘party’ band,” the real-life romance behind Matt and Kim seems to be alive and kicking after nearly 15 years and an amount of success most bands would die to experience.
Learn more on Soundfly: Trying to woo someone with your songcraft this Valentine’s Day? We can help! Read to the end…
Johnny Cash and June Carter
Portrayed in the 2005 film, Walk The Line, the romance between Johnny Cash and June Carter was one of the most storied and beloved musical relationships of all time. Before marrying, Carter and Cash each had famously dysfunctional relationships that were only made worse due to their individual successes and having to constantly be on the road. Carter was married twice before meeting Johnny Cash and had a child in each marriage; Cash was married only once prior, but had four daughters with his first wife. Yet, this was the relationship that lasted. Cash and Carter stayed together, touring and making music together up until they both died in 2003, four months apart. After performing together for years, Cash proposed to Carter during a live performance at the London Ice House in London, Ontario, in 1968.
Bruce Springsteen and Patti Scialfa (The E Street Band)
Our next couple met in an Asbury Park, New Jersey, club in the 1980s. When Bruce Springsteen first saw Patti Scialfa perform at The Stone Pony, he must’ve been impressed, even though she didn’t officially join The E Street Band until years later. But hey, they married, so better late than never, right? Scialfa had never been married, but their romance was coming off the heels of a long and torturous multi-year divorce for Springsteen (with model and actress Julianne Phillips) that finally ended in 1989. They were eventually married in June of 1991.
Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz (Talking Heads)
Married since 1977, Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz have what some would call an exemplary rock romance. Even though their band, Talking Heads, eventually succumbed to breakup, they founded the band Tom Tom Club and have worked together in a number of musical capacities together, with the Compass Point All Stars, producing albums for Happy Mondays and Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers, and even singing backup vocals for Gorillaz. Weymouth and Frantz are proof that some couples can stay together over the long haul by doing what they love.
Jay-Z and Beyoncé
There’s no way we could create a list about musical romances without mentioning Jay-Z and Beyoncé. Beyoncé claims to have met Jay-Z all the way back in 1999 when she was just eighteen. They were friends for over a year before they began dating in 2000. After collaborating over songs and music videos, the couple famously married in a top-secret 2008 wedding. A couple of kids, multiple controversies, and some world tours a decade later, the couple is still married and often the focus of lots of unwanted attention, so, uh, sorry for mentioning you in this article, guys.
Trying to woo someone with your songcraft this Valentine’s Day? Tell us about it in the comments below.
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