We all know about modern-day famous rock couples like Gene Simmons and Shannon Tweed, and the brief marriage between singer Kid Rock and Pamela Anderson - but what about the famous power couples that started a romantic relationship first, then added a band later? This list breaks down the famous married (or otherwise attached) couples that fell in love first, then used that relationship to have successful music careers. Many of these famous singing duos credit their relationships for the success of their music. Some of the featured music power couples on this list made it well known that they were together, such as Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash, Sonny and Cher, and the Mamas & the Papas. Others are not as obvious about it, such as Jack and Meg White from the White Stripes - who were rumored to be either married or divorced or brother and sister. Who are the most famous rock star couples? Making sweet music is no difficult task for these famous rock star couples, as many have experienced long and successful music careers, including winning Grammy Awards and selling millions of albums. As these famous singing couples prove, love is a great first step to fame and fortune.
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After they started their own musical careers and families individually, Johnny Cash and June Carter married on March 1, 1968. The couple continued to tour together and went on to win two Grammy Awards for their collaborations. Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash remained married for more than 35 years. June passed in May 2003 and Johnny followed less than four months later.
In the 1980s, Sonic Youth singer and guitarist Thurston Moore met guitarist Kim Gordon and they played together in a number of bands. About the same time, they started dating. Sonic Youth officially formed in 1981 and Moore and Gordon married in 1984. The band went on to become pioneers of alternative music. Sadly, the pair are no longer together; they announced their split in 2011.
Though they never married, Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks were perhaps the most prominent couple in the blues-rock band Fleetwood Mac. The pair joined Fleetwood Mac in the 1970s and continued to perform with the band over the next several decades, although Buckingham was fired from the group in 2018. The other pair, John McVie and Christine McVie, were the longest-lasting couple of the group and eventually married. However, after their divorce, Christine left the group in 1998.
As the name suggests, the four-person group of the Mamas & the Papas included two men and two women, or two mamas and two papas. Normally, this would mean two couples, but it turned out more like one married couple: Michelle and John Phillips, plus another man, Denny Doherty, who had an affair with Michelle. However they worked it out, the combination proved to be successful - at least for a few years, anyway.
As one of the most popular and successful musical couples ever, Sonny and Cher Bono ruled the airwaves on both radio and television in the 1960s and 1970s. They released two hit songs in 1965, including the classic "I Got You Babe," and starred in films and television shows together. Sonny and Cher sold more than 80 million records worldwide together before divorcing in 1975. Despite the split, each went on to have successful solo careers. Cher continued in music while Sonny became a congressman for the state of California, a position he served until his passing in 1998.
Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo's romance is known as one of rock's greatest love stories. The duo first met in 1979 when Benatar was putting her band together, and Giraldo was playing guitar with Rick Derringer. The duo impulsively tied the knot in Hawaii in 1982, with only the judge present. The honeymoon was brief, as Benatar was due at the Grammys in Los Angeles just four days later. They even wrote songs about their love, such as 1981's "Promises in the Dark." They've toured together for decades.
Initially, the members of the White Stripes, an alternative rock band from Detroit, MI, didn't acknowledge their romantic past. According to early interviews, Meg and Jack White claimed to be brother and sister. Even after proof surfaced that the pair had in fact had married in 1996, they continued to insist that they were siblings - in the hope of keeping the focus on their music, not their personal life. In another unconventional turn of events, when the pair married, Jack took Meg's surname of White rather than her taking his surname of Gillis. Sadly, the couple divorced in 2000 but remained friends and bandmates. Meg White went on to remarry in 2009, with her wedding to Jackson Smith taking place in Jack White's backyard.
John Lennon and Yoko Ono are perhaps the most famous - and infamous - rock couple of all time. The pair collaborated on several projects, including Ono providing backing vocals for the Beatles, over the course of their relationship. They eventually married and had a son together; they remained a family until Lennon was murdered in 1980.
That pretty face in the E Street Band is not just accomplished singer-songwriter and guitarist Patti Scialfa, but also the longtime wife of Bruce Springsteen. Patti joined the band in 1984, gave birth to their first child in 1990, and married Bruce Springsteen in 1991. They've continued to share personal and professional lives in the time since.
In addition to being one of the most commercially successful musical acts in the history of pop music, ABBA also can claim one of the longest engagements ever between rock star couples. Anni-Frid Lyngstad and Benny Andersson met when the group formed in 1970, got engaged, and stayed that way for nine years before marrying. The engagement lasted longer than the marriage, as they divorced in 1981. The other two members of ABBA, Björn Ulvaeus and Agnetha Fältskog, were also married. The couple married in 1971, had two children, and divorced in 1980. Despite the two marriages and two divorces, the band remained strong for years after the drama.
The British alternative band Stereolab was formed by a couple - one that didn't survive the spotlight. Tim Gane, who played guitar and keyboards, had a romantic relationship with vocalist, guitarist, and keyboard player Lætitia Sadier during the course of the band's run in the 1990s. Their relationship lasted until 2004, but the band continued to play for years after the fact.
Ike and Tina Turner were known almost as much for their dramatic relationship as their entertainment careers. After covering "Proud Mary" and winning a Grammy Award, the married couple went through a rough period in which they dealt with addiction and abuse, two factors that led to their divorce in 1978. Both went on to have solo careers, and were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as a couple in 1991.
Though the couple has since split, with one member of the pair leaving the band, the country-rock group the Drive-By Truckers at one time included a romantic duo. Joining founding members Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley were the married couple of Shonna Tucker and Jason Isbell. Tucker and Isbell later divorced and he left the band in what was called an "amicable" split.
Before she settled down with filmmaker Lance Bangs, Sleater-Kinney founding member Corin Tucker had a romantic relationship with bandmate Carrie Brownstein in the 1990s. The band, which featured a handful of other girls, saw success in the "riot grrrl" and indie rock scenes before breaking up and taking an indefinite hiatus in 2006. They have since reunited to critical acclaim.
