Beyoncé & Jay-Z’s Age Gap Resurfaces Amid 13-Year-Old Sexual Assault Case—Here’s When They Started Dating
When we think of Hollywood power couples, we think of Jay-Z and Beyoncé. In fact, the two have been together for so long at this point, it’s hard to remember a time they weren’t. This leads to the question of how long the two have been together and when exactly they started dating.
It’s truly rare in Hollywood to have two powerhouses of this magnitude together. Because Jay-Z and Beyoncé are big on their own. Jay-Z, a rapper and record executive, was named the greatest rapper of all time by Billboard in 2023 and topped the Forbes list of “The 50 Top Rappers Of All Time” in 2024. He also served as president and CEO of Def Jam Recordings and founded the entertainment company Roc Nation.
Related: Did Jay-Z cheat on Beyoncé?
Beyoncé, meanwhile, is a singer-songwriter and widely considered one of the most influential figures in history. She was recently named the greatest pop star of the 21st century by Billboard and Rolling Stone categorized her as one of the greatest vocalists of all time. So, it’s fair to say that the two are, separately, quite impressive. Put them together and they are indeed music royalty.
They’ve been together for over two decades, married since 2008. But when did Jay-Z and Beyoncé first start dating? Here’s everything we know about the timeline of their relationship.
When did Jay-Z and Beyoncé get together?
The two met when Beyoncé was 18, which was probably somewhere between September of 1999 and August of 200. Jay-Z was 30 at the time. But Beyoncé has spoken before about how the two stayed friends for a while before things turned romantic. “We were friends first for a year and a half before we went on any dates,” she told Oprah Winfrey in an OWN interview. “We were on the phone for a year and a half, and that foundation is so important for a relationship. Just to have someone who you just like is so important, and someone [who] is honest.”
And though the two would go on to marry, they waited until April 4, 2008, not just because of their 12-year age difference, but because according to Beyoncé, who told Seventeen at the time, “I really don’t believe that you will love the same thing when you’re 20 as you do at 30. So that was my rule: Before the age of 25, I would never get married. I feel like you have to get to know yourself, know what you want, spend some time by yourself, and be proud of who you are before you can share that with someone else.”
Related: What did Beyoncé have to say about Lizzo being sued for sexual harrassment?
The couple welcomed their first child together, daughter Blue Ivy Carter on January 7, 2012. In June 2017, twins Rumi and Sir join the family.
In between the additions to the family, the two went through some rocky times—which included infidelity on the part of Jay-Z, which he has admitted to. Beyoncé’s album Lemonade and Jay-Z’s album 4:44 are both about their marital strife, which the couple seems to have emerged from, because the two even went on a recent tour together.
A recent lawsuit filed in federal court alleges Jay-Z and Sean “Diddy” Combs raped a 13-year-old girl during a party in 2000.
