I Got You Babe’ [1965] “They say our love won’t pay the rent, before it’s earned our money’s all been spent,” sings Cher. “I guess that’s so, we don’t have a plot, but at least I’m sure of all the things we’ve got,” comes the reply. A karaoke classic for couples across the world, this charming pop song – written by Sonny Bono and played by crack session band The Wrecking Crew – perfectly captures the ‘us against the world’ mentality of young romance.
The track took the top spot in the US, UK and Canadian charts, turning Sonny and Cher into one of music’s first super-couples and sealing the song’s legendary status for future generations. UB40 and Chrissie Hynde took the track back to the top of the charts in 1985 with their reggae-tinged version. 2. Arcade Fire – ‘Everything Now’ [2017] It says something that Arcade Fire’s longest-standing members are husband and wife Win Butler and Régine Chassagne.
As countless collaborators have come and gone, their songwriting and musicianship has steered the band through five studio albums and, with 2017’s Everything Now , turned them from indie heroes into unlikely US chart-toppers. The eponymous lead single fared less well in the UK (#50) but, still, if you’ve got indie fans in the house and want them on the dance-floor, this synth-heavy discoinfluenced track – produced by Daft Punk’s Thomas Bangalter – should do the trick.
3. ABBA – ‘Waterloo’ [1974] Euro-pop super troupers ABBA consisted of two married couples, Anna-Frid & Benny and Bjorn & Agnetha, whose initials rather conveniently formed a nifty palindrome. Years later, they would go through bitter divorces, like so many of the stars in this list, but back when the band released its debut single, ‘Waterloo’ , they were getting on just fine. Lyrically, it’s an odd song that compares submitting to love to the surrender of Napoleon at the battle of Waterloo.
Musically, it’s a stomping ode to the boogie shuffle and honking saxophones of British glam-rock. Of course, what followed was one of the most successful musical careers of all time. Their relationships may not have lasted but those classic songs did; and actually it was the relationships – more specifically, the failure of those relationships – that gave the songs their emotion, urgency and universal appeal. While break-ups certainly provide ideal material for pop songs, on the flip side we know that happy relationships can produce musical gems too.
While they’ve had some rocky patches, Beyoncé and Jay Z are a prime example of a happily married couple who also work together, combining their talent to create some of the 21st century’s biggest hits, including ‘Crazy In 4. Beyoncé and Jay Z – ‘Drunk In Love’ [2013] There were loads of tracks to choose from for this pair, but ‘Yoncé and Jay Z’s stripped-back club banger is a shining example of what the pop power couple can do when they collaborate.
Minimal trap beats form the foundation for producer Timbaland’s trademark synths and a stunning vocal performance from Beyoncé, making this mid-tempo R&B track a sexier, raunchier, darker ‘Crazy In Love’ . Essentially a candid recollection of drunk sex, we get raps from both stars: she’s “on the Cognac, gangster wife,” while he compares himself to the controversial Ike Turner – bringing us neatly onto our next husband-wife duo. Love’ , ‘Bonnie & Clyde’ and ‘Drunk In Love’ .
Like many other musical supercouples, they know when to step forward and take the lead or stand down and let their partner’s talent shine. From Sonny and Cher to the aforementioned Beyoncé and Jay Z, this list features some of music’s most reputable power couples, as well as a few lesser-known husband-wife duos. And whether these relationships last forever, or fizzle out under the pressure of endless tours or fraught studio sessions, what’s clear is that when musicians marry, they’re liable to create something special.
27THE POWER OF LOVE 5. Ike and Tina Turner – ‘River Deep – Mountain High’ [1966] For all their controversies, which included Ike Turner being accused of domestic violence and abuse, this legendary ‘60s duo were credited with some of the most iconic songs of their era, including this bombastic, epic, sprawling top-ten hit. But the key word here is credited. The infamous producer Phil Spector – who declared ‘River Deep – Mountain High’ his masterpiece – actually paid the controlling Ike Turner to stay away from the studio during its recording, leaving Tina Turner to belt out one of her finest vocal performances; a physically exhausting performance that, by the end, sounds like the singer had very little left to give.
6. Paul McCartney and Wings – ‘Jet’ [1974] Linda McCartney suffered unfair treatment by the press when she married Paul McCartney and the two formed Wings together – something that Beatles fans considered the final nail in the coffin for the legendary group. While it took Wings a while to release anything of real substance, and Linda’s contributions as a songwriter were downplayed by the music press, they really struck gold with ‘Jet’ – a power-pop gem that took the drive of the Beatles’ heaviest tracks and combined it with horns, futuristic keyboard sounds and, played by Linda, a distinctive Moog bass note that continues through the entire verse.
7. Johnny Cash and June Carter – ‘Jackson’ [1967] The on-stage chemistry between country legend Johnny Cash and five-time Grammy winner June Carter really was something to be envied. Luckily, this energy transferred to record and the couple produced a number of duets throughout their often rocky relationship. ‘Jackson’ , which tells the tale of two lovers who got “married in a fever, hotter than a pepper sprout” but have been “talking about Jackson, ever since the fire went out,” became the duo’s biggest hit, speeding to the top of the US country charts like a runaway train.
In reality, the fire never did burn out; they married in 1968 and, in 2003, four months after his wife passed away, Cash did too. Fun fact: it was actually Carter who wrote ‘Ring of Fire’ , later covered by Cash and now considered one of his signature songs. What a team! 8.
The White Stripes – ‘Seven Nation Army’ [2003] After they divorced, guitarist Jack decided to take his ex-wife’s surname (as you do) and then implied to the entire music press that he and Meg were brother and sister (not weird at all). Dressed in red, white and black (the most striking colour combination, according to the band) and armed with nothing but one guitar and a drum kit, this odd garage-rock duo took the mainstream by storm with ‘Seven Nation Army’ – a UK top-ten hit from their third album that got just a tad overplayed and catapulted the band to global fame.
If only all divorcees got on this well. 9. John Lennon and Yoko Ono – ‘Give Peace A Chance’ [1969] You can probably conjure up loads of ways to spend a honeymoon; sipping cocktails on a beach in the Bahamas might be one. But how about shacking up in a hotel room and lying in bed for an entire week?
That’s what newly-weds John and Yoko decided to do in 1969, using the press attention following their marriage to promote world peace during two week-long ‘bed-ins’ . Prolific songwriter Lennon coined ‘Give Peace A Chance’ during that time and it was recorded live from a hotel bedroom in Montreal, featuring Yoko Ono on backing vocals and tambourine, and various friends playing guitars and singing. This was John and Yoko at their most influential, with the track reaching UK number two and becoming an anthem for the anti-war movement in the US.
10. Fleetwood Mac – ‘You Make Loving Fun’ [1976] Christine and John McVie were in the middle of a savage divorce when she penned this funky, upbeat track for Fleetwood Mac’s now-legendary Rumours album. What with all five members of the band going through break-ups at the time, ‘You Make Loving Fun’ – allegedly written about Christine’s affair with the group’s lighting designer – offers the listener respite from some of the album’s darker, more bitter songs, thanks to its positive lyrics, funky clavinet lines and, rather ironically, the vital grooving bass line of ex-husband John McVie.
The track became a top-ten hit and furthered the success of Rumours – not a bad job for a band on the brink of collapse.
