Why Beyoncé Never Wanted to Get Married Before She Turned 25
Beyoncé became a global music sensation in the late ‘90s. Through Destiny’s Child, she traveled the world with hits such as “Bills, Bills, Bills,” and “Say My Name.” In 2003, her solo project, Dangerously In Love, made the singer a household name.
During a 2008 interview, Beyoncé shared why she didn’t want to get married while developing her music career.
Beyoncé met her husband, Jay-Z, at 18
Beyoncé was born and raised in Houston, Texas. When she was a pre-teen, she, Kelly Rowland, and their childhood friends formed Girls Tyme. The bunch eventually became Destiny’s Child and was managed by Beyoncé’s father, Mathew Knowles. In 1998, Destiny’s Child released their self-titled album. Afterward, they debuted Writings on the Wall in 1999. The project earned the group their first Grammy in 2000 for “Say My Name.”
At the height of Destiny’s Child’s success, Beyoncé met Jay-Z. The artists boarded the same plane to the MTV Spring Break Festival. In 2018, Jay rapped a verse about their meeting on the couple’s song, “Everything Is Love.”
“We played it cool at the pool of the Cancun, VMA,” Jay raps. “Confidence you exude make the fools stay away / Me, I played my room, let the fools have they say / Fate had me sittin’ next to you on the plane / And I knew straight away.”
Although they remained friends for “a year and a half,” Beyoncé and Jay-Z became an official couple in the early 2000s. However, the pair were highly private about their relationship for multiple years.
The real reason Beyoncé didn’t get married before turning 25
After seven years of dating, Beyoncé and Jay-Z secretly got married on April 4, 2008. According to Brides, the couple also had a clandestine engagement. Fans of the artists realized they were married when they were spotted getting their marriage license that month.
In Nov. 2008, Beyoncé decided to discuss her marriage with Jay-Z publicly. While gracing the cover of Seventeen Magazine, she said that the couple intentionally waited to tie the knot. Because she met Jay when she was a young adult, the then-26-year-old singer felt she needed more time before becoming a wife.
“I really don’t believe that you will love the same thing when you’re 20 as you do at 30,” Beyoncé explained. “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.”
What the ‘Drunk In Love’ singer realized about marriage
During her interview with Seventeen, Beyoncé continued to provide more details about marrying Jay-Z. She said being with the “Hard Knock Life” allows her to have a stable relationship.
“I don’t care if you’re picture-perfect on every magazine cover, and you’re the most handsome, successful, coolest guy,” Beyoncé said. “You still get sad, and you still get your feelings hurt, and you still get confused and vulnerable and nervous and scared. You have to find a person you can make it through the tough times with.”
Since they got married, Beyoncé and Jay-Z have remained solid. The couple celebrated their 13th wedding anniversary in April 2021. Additionally, they share three children– Blue Ivy Carter and twins Sir Carter and Rumi Carter, and multiple business ventures. In 2013, Beyoncé told Oprah Winfrey that Jay-Z makes her feel comfortable to live her dreams.
“I would not be the woman I am if I did not go home to that man,” she said, adding that Jay helped her “on so many levels.”
