MICHELLE AND BARACK OBAMA
In 1989, Michelle Obama was 25. She had just told her mother she was taking a break from men to concentrate on her career. Then Sidley & Austin — the corporate law firm at which she was a summer associate — assigned Barack Obama as her mentee. It wasn’t long before the two fell in love, and Michelle continued to stand by her man all the way to the white house. The rest is romance history.
LA LA AND CARMELO ANTHONY
Carmelo Anthony first spotted La La in a New York City club. He sent over a bottle of Moet & Chandon which Lala says she thought was corny. Then their mutual friend DJ Clue got them together in 2003. At the time, Carmelo was still at Syracuse and had yet to be signed to the Denver Nuggets. The two stayed together as Carmelo’s basketball career skyrocketed. They finally married in 2010.
LATANYA RICHARDSON AND SAMUEL L. JACKSON
Samuel L. Jackson met his future wife LaTanya Richardson while the two were attending Morehouse college. Not only was Samuel not famous, he was battling a pretty serious drug problem. But LaTanya stood by his side and with the help of his girlfriend and mentor Morgan Freeman, Samuel pulled his life together. The two married in 1980 and they’ve been together ever since.
RHONDA MCCULLOUGH AND BERNIE MAC
Back in 1977, Bernie Mac was a stand-up comedian touring clubs and on the road 47 out of 52 weeks out of the year. But Rhonda McCullough married him anyway and helped him on his rise to stardom. She lost him too soon in 2008.
MORGAN FREEMAN AND MYRNA COLLEY-LEE
Morgan met his future wife Myrna in 1976. At the time, the actor had only starred in a few films you’ve never heard of, in uncredited roles. Myrna was just a costume designer. They married in 1984 and spent 26 blissful years together. Then Morgan Freeman got an itch to sow his old oats and the couple divorced in 2010.
OPRAH WINFREY AND STEDMAN GRAHAM
Stedman is one of the only men on this list that had sense enough to grab his woman while she was on her way up. Oprah and Stedman met way back in 1985. Oprah was just 21 and her talkshow hadn’t even been on the air for a year. And when Stedman courted his long-term girlfriend, he had no idea that she’d blossom into one of the richest women on the face of the earth.
LL COOL J AND SIMONE SMITH
LL met his wife Simone Smith back in the day when they were both just teenagers. It was 1987 and LL was driving down the block in his mother’s car. He stopped to meet a friend who hooked LL up with his cousin. LL says it was love at first sight. They were married in 1995 and they now have four kids together.
RON HOWARD AND CHERYL HOWARD
When director Ron Howard met Cheryl Howard, he was long done with the Andy Griffith Show and back in high school. They got together during Ron’s junior year and they were soon inseparable — they spent so much time together that Ron’s parents forbade him to see Cheryl more than once a week. But Ron and Cheryl just kept getting closer. The couple got married in 1975 when Ron was just 21, way before he became one of the world’s most famous directors.
BONO AND ALI HEWSON
Bono met his wife Ali Hewson when the two were both kids living in Ireland. Despite some bumps in the road, Bono and Ali remained connected even as Bono’s fame skyrocketed past both of their expectations. Ali says they’re shared history is what kept them going strong:
“Knowing someone’s memories is when you really know them inside out—when you’ve grown up with them and made that journey through adulthood together,”
They married in 1982 and they’ve been together ever since.
BILL AND HILLARY CLINTON
If there’s a “stand by your man” award, Hillary Clinton is definitely in the running. She and Bill met at Yale University when Hilary was a sophomore and Bill was a freshman. They both had similarly complicated backgrounds and an insatiable drive to succeed in politics. Those commonalities have kept them together despite…it all.
[MadameNoire]