Beyonce, Jay-Z’s Relationship Through the Years

After more than 20 years together, Beyoncé and Jay-Z are still drunk in love and hooked on each other.

The Destiny’s Child singer met her future husband when she was 18 years old (roughly in 1999). A year later, they started dating. The couple’s real-life chemistry quickly crossed over into their careers, with their first musical collaboration on Jay-Z’s “03 Bonnie and Clyde” in 2002. The pair followed it up with “Crazy in Love” the following year.

Five years later, Beyoncé and Jay-Z tied the knot in a secret ceremony on April 4, 2008. Three years later, Beyoncé announced she was expecting the couple’s first child when she stepped out at the MTV Video Music Awards and, at the end of her performance, revealed and then cradled her baby bump. The pair became first-time parents in January 2012, when they welcomed daughter Blue Ivy.

Two years later, Beyoncé and Jay-Z’s relationship hit a bump in the road when Beyoncé’s sister, Solange Knowles, had a reportedly heated argument with Jay-Z at the Met Gala in 2014. Soon after, speculation that Jay-Z had cheated on his wife began to spread.

The pair overcame Jay-Z’s infidelity — which Beyoncé sang about on her 2016 album Lemonade and he addressed on his 4:44 record — but it wasn’t until 2017 that the New York native admitted to having an affair.

Since their reconciliation, the artists expanded their family, welcoming twins Sir and Rumi in June 2017. They’ve also joined forces again musically with the 2018 joint album, Everything Is Love. Jay-Z also appeared in his wife’s Black Is King visual album in July 2020.

In late 2024, Beyoncé and Jay-Z’s relationship faced another difficult milestone after the rapper was named in a civil lawsuit alongside Sean “Diddy” Combs and accused of rape. Jay-Z and Diddy vehemently denied the allegations. Beyoncé remained by her husband’s side throughout the drama. The lawsuit was dropped in February 2025.

Scroll down to relive the couple’s best moments throughout their relationship: