Many stars have broken the rules of not mixing work and pleasure to sing with their partners. And while it’s worked out for some, other relationships didn’t last.
However, digital footprints last forever. Artists like Jay-Z and Beyoncé, Faith Hill and Tim McGraw and Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani have all worked on music together and are still together. Meanwhile, G-Eazy and Halsey had a public fallout during the promotion of their song, and Camila Cabello and Shawn Mendes have been on and off for years.
Most recently, pop star Tate McRae and rapper The Kid LAROI finally took their relationship to the studio for their first song, “I Know Love” off her third studio album, So Close to What, released on Feb. 22.
As for other couple duets, no matter what happened or where they are now, fans can still listen and appreciate the collaboration that went into their music.
Read on for more about the real-life couples who have recorded songs together — and what happened after.
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Sonny & Cher
Image Credit: CBS/Getty Images Sonny Bono and Cher were the golden duo of the ’60s and ’70s. While together for over a decade, they released three albums, Look At Us, Sonny & Cher Live and All I Ever Need Is You, under their stage name Sonny & Cher. They sold more than 40 million albums worldwide. In 1969, they welcomed their only child, Chaz Bono. However, the couple later decided to part ways and finalized their divorce in 1975.
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Ariana Grande, Big Sean and Mac Miller
Image Credit: Kate Green/Getty Images; Michael Buckner/Variety/Getty Images; Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images Ariana Grande and Big Sean’s first collaboration was for the 2013 song “Right There,” song on her debut album, Yours Truly, which Big Sean was featured on — and he appeared in the music video. The following year (when Grande and Sean began dating), they teamed up again on her sophomore album, My Everything, for the song “Best Mistake.” In 2015, Grande was featured on Sean’s song “Research.” After breaking up later that year, Grande and Sean seem to be on good terms, as she name dropped him as one of the exes she’s thankful for in her hit 2019 song “thank u, next.”
Grande collaborated with the late Mac Miller on her 2013 breakout hit “The Way.” While they were dating, they also worked on the 2016 song “My Favorite Part.” However, the couple’s relationship lasted two years and they broke up in 2018. Grande also thanks Miller in “thank u, next” with the lyrics: “Wish I could say ‘thank you’ to Malcolm, ’cause he was an angel.”
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Katy Perry and John Mayer
Image Credit: Kevin Mazur/WireImage Katy Perry and John Mayer, who are household names in their own right, dated on and off for three years from 2012 to 2015. During that relationship, they released the song “Who You Love,” along with a romantic music video. Even though the pair called it quits and moved on with other partners, their song remains a hit and Mayer even revealed he was influenced by his relationship with Perry when he wrote 2017’s “Still Feel Like Your Man.”
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Beyoncé and Jay-Z
Image Credit: Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images This powerhouse couple has collaborated on numerous tracks and projects. They opened the 2014 Grammys with the first-ever performance of “Drunk in Love.” The next year, they won at the awards show for best R&B performance. Other songs of theirs include “03′ Bonnie & Clyde,” “Deja Vu,” “Hollywood” and more. The couple have been married since 2008 and have been together for over 20 years.
Earlier this year, Beyoncé won the album of the year Grammy for Cowboy Carter and Jay-Z was credited as a writer. She now holds the record — 35 wins — for the most Grammys awarded to any artist.
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Gwen Stefani and Blake Shelton
Image Credit: Christopher Polk/Penske Media/Getty Images It’s been more than 10 years since Gwen Stefani and Blake Shelton met — and fell in love — on the competition/reality TV show The Voice. They married in 2021 and remained coaches on the show until Shelton left in 2023. They’ve worked on several duets together, including “Go Ahead and Break My Heart,” “Happy Anywhere,” “You Make It Feel Like Christmas,” “Purple Irises” and “Nobody But You,” for which the pair released a a romantic music video.
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Halsey and G-Eazy
Image Credit: Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images In the end, it wasn’t “him and I” for this ex-couple.
Halsey and G-Eazy were together for a year before calling it quits in 2018 to take “some time apart.” While they were an item, they released the popular hit “Him & I,” which the pair also performed in 2017 at the Jingle Ball and on Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve. Rumors online about G-Eazy cheating on Halsey started swirling, and Halsey allegedly found out about the infidelity right before their GMA live performance of “Him & I” — which would explain the tension between the two.
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Faith Hill and Tim McGraw
Image Credit: Ethan Miller/Getty Images Country sweethearts Faith Hill and Tim McGraw have been married since 1996 and are still going strong. They are also quite the pair professionally, too, having worked together on many songs over their career, like “Let’s Make Love,” “It’s Your Love” and “Like We Never Loved at All” as well as the album The Rest of Our Life. And they eamed up on several tours. They’ve won big at the Grammys, CMA Awards and ACM Awards in their joint efforts.
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John Lennon and Yoko Ono
Image Credit: PL Gould/IMAGES/Getty Images John Lennon’s partner Yoko Ono contributed vocally to the Beatles songs “Birthday” and “The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill.” They collaborated on Lennon’s final album, Double Fantasy.
Despite a separation period in the 70s (aka the “Lost Weekend”), the pair were still together up until his tragic death in 1980 when he was shot outside of his New York City apartment.
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Camila Cabello and Shawn Mendes
Image Credit: Theo Wargo/Getty Images Camila Cabello featured on Shawn Mendes’ 2015 track “I Know What You Did Last Summer” off of his debut album. In 2019, they teamed up again on the song “Señorita” including a spicy music video.
Things turned romantic, and they also started dating that year, but broke it off two years later. In 2023, they were seen together, and it seemed like they were back together. But just a few months later they had gone their separate ways.
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Tate McRae and The Kid LAROI
Image Credit: Catherine Powell/Getty Images Since their first-ever performance at Madison Square Garden together in August, fans have longed for Tate McRae and The Kid LAROI to collaborate — and now they have. The couple, who’ve been dating for a year, released their first song “I know love” on McRae’s album So Close to What, released on Feb. 21.
McRae’s “Miss Possessive Tour” kicks off in March, so time will tell if fans will see an MSG part two of them performing live together again.
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