True love in the spotlight is a rare, precious thing. Even more beautiful: when celebrity couples talk about finding it. Below, 30 famous women share the stories behind their greatest romances — on meeting their partners, working to stay together, and for some, loving each other even after they decided to be apart.
Scroll to hear from Beyoncé, Yoko Ono, Ellen DeGeneres, Meryl Streep, and more below.
30 Famous
1. Iman on David Bowie
“I had set my sights on Los Angeles with the stated aim of pursuing — what else? — acting. While I did actually manage to make a couple of movies, I ultimately associate the City of Angels with being precisely that. It was here that I met and fell in love with my everlasting soul mate, Mr. David Bowie. Life for me changed fundamentally … David gave me the most exciting, touching, and deliriously loving 24 years. Still, it was not enough — shockingly brief. And although I’ll never get used to losing him, David is nonetheless hiding in plain sight … As for David, I have perfect iman that we’ll be together again. Love doesn’t cease; love reshapes.” —Vogue, August 2017
2. Lily Tomlin on Jane Wagner
On meeting Jane: “It was ’71. … A mutual friend introduced us. As soon as I saw her, I just flipped. She’s very, very pretty. She’s a wonderful person, easy to relate to. Jane is rather introverted, although she has a lot to say! She’s terribly engaging and appealing, so gracious and fun. She’s not like anyone else. We started courting right away.” —Parade, January 2017
3. Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Martin D. Ginsburg
“I have had more than a little bit of luck in life, but nothing equals in magnitude my marriage to Martin D. Ginsburg. I do not have words adequate to describe my supersmart, exuberant, ever-loving spouse. Early on in our marriage, it became clear to him that cooking was not my strong suit. To the eternal appreciation of our food-loving children, Marty made the kitchen his domain and became chef supreme in our home. Marty coached me through the birth of our son, he was the first reader and critic of articles, speeches and briefs I drafted, and he was at my side constantly, in and out of the hospital, during two long bouts with cancer. And I betray no secret in reporting that, without him, I would not have gained a seat on the Supreme Court.” —The New York Times, October 2016
4. Julia Child on Paul Child
“Without Paul Child, I would not have had my career.” —Town & Country, October 2016
5. Yoko Ono on John Lennon
“He was the only person who put up with me. It’s difficult for a guy to understand what women are thinking. Most guys don’t even listen. He was very forward-thinking in that sense. He really jumped into feminism, no argument. He would ask me, ‘Could you find feminist groups for me?’ Even now, I don’t think men get together and say, ‘Let’s be feminists.’” —Rolling Stone, March 2016
6. Janet Mock on Aaron Tredwell
“Our story started on the dance floor of a bar on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. It was 2009, and I was tipsy and twirling when I bumped into Aaron. He was gorgeous — the kind of handsome I’d seen in my mind when I let myself be the girl who can have that, the girl I’d watched on screen so many times in rom-coms that always seemed to end in marriage. Within minutes of our meeting, he invited me for a cup of coffee, and in a nearby fluorescent-lit café, I discovered that he was more than good-looking. He was kind and attentive and had a generous ear. I knew he was my guy, but I was unsure if I’d be his girl … Aaron proposed to me five years later at our home last December. There were no frills and there was no hesitation as he slipped an oval diamond engagement ring with a rose-gold band onto my finger. When I said yes, I had never been more certain about anything. We knew we would have a short engagement and a small wedding near the ocean in my hometown of Oahu, Hawaii.” —Brides, November 2015
7. Courtney Love on Kurt Cobain
“We were best friends … [it was] that punch-drunk love thing, where you’ve met your soulmate and you’re 25 and you’re just fucking and talking and fighting and fucking. There’s other kinds of love, and more mature kinds of love, but no. It was like a soul mate-y thing.” —USA Today, April 2015
8. Anjelica Huston on Jack Nicholson
“Jack is somebody I’ve adored in my life and will continue to love forever. I don’t take him lightly. As it happens, we had a really lovely conversation on the phone yesterday — a conversation that started off a little bumpy and wound up just completely wonderful. That’s a real relationship. Real relationships have a continuity, and Jack and I have a deep abiding love and affection for each other. I’m proud that we’ve gotten through some very tough times together.” —The Saturday Evening Post, March/April 2013
9. Alicia Keys on Swizz Beatz
“Honestly, I didn’t really like him that much. I thought he was too ostentatious … Swizz will have the fastest car, the biggest jewelry, the loudest jacket. Everything with him is really over the top. I used to see him and think, ‘He is so annoying.’ … I fought [working with him] tooth and nail. Why should I work with him? Finally, though, we did it and we had a ball … I think we’ve taught each other a lot. He’s taught me to live more fully, and I think I’ve taught him to live more deeply.” —Marie Claire UK, July 2013
10. Jessica Alba on Cash Warren
“When I met my husband, I felt like I had known him my whole life. The day I met him, he was very familiar, and he felt like family.” —Buzzfeed, June 2017
11. Iris Apfel on Carl Apfel:
“[Carl] told my friend that he thought I was very attractive if only I would go and have my nose fixed. So I said, ‘You can tell him to go fly a kite.’ Anyway, some weeks later I came home from work and the phone was ringing off the hook. He said, ‘That was a stunning outfit you were wearing today and I particularly loved your hat’ — he had been on a bus on Fifth Avenue and had seen me on the sidewalk. Anyway, I was very busy and the first date I could give him was about six weeks later on Columbus Day. Thanksgiving he proposed, Christmas I got my ring, Washington’s birthday we married and our honeymoon was over on St Patrick’s Day … [Carl] was very easy and very funny and we just hit it off. First of all he ordered my dinner. I have so many decisions to make all day long that I really don’t want to decide what I have to eat, too. So it was perfect.” —The Telegraph, October 2011
12. Billie Jean King on Ilana Kloss
“I didn’t have a crush on any of the players. Except Ilana. Ilana was a great player.” —Vanity Fair, September 2008
13. Stevie Nicks on Lindsey Buckingham
“That electric crazy attraction between Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks never dies, never will die, never will go away. He’s married, he’s happy, he has three beautiful children that I love. You know, he’s found a good, happy, calm, safe place — but who Lindsey and I are to each other will never change … It’s over. It doesn’t mean the great feeling isn’t there, it must mean that … you know, we’re beauty and the beast. It means that the love is always there but we’ll never be together, so that’s even more romantic.” —MTV, April 2009
14. Betty White on Allen Ludden
“Once you’ve had the best, who needs the rest? I made two mistakes before Allen, but the love of your life doesn’t come along in every life, so I am very grateful that I found him.” —The Daily Mail, April 2011
15. Beyoncé on Jay Z
“I would not be the woman I am if I did not go home to that man. It just gives me such a foundation. [He’s helped me] on so many levels. We were friends first for a year and a half before we went on any date. On the phone for a year and a half. And that foundation is so important in a relationship. And just to have someone that you just like, you know, is so important. And someone who is honest.” —Oprah’s Next Chapter, February 2013 Read the rest of the story