Marrying your prom date might not be at the top of everyone's list. But
true love came early for these celebs, and they’ve been holding onto it for decades.
Just like he said in one of his many hit songs, Kendrick Lamar is all about loyalty, loyalty,
loyalty. He never wants to be around anyone who might be using him for his fame and fortune.
"Everyone that's been around me, they been around since day one. And I can't change that,
I won't change for nobody, I can't run from that, you feel what I'm saying?"
One of those people who's been around since the beginning is Whitney Alford,
Lamar's high school sweetheart and longtime partner. The two began dating while attending
Centennial High School in Compton, California, and got engaged in 2015.
While they have kept their personal relationship more private than public over the years,
Lamar's fans can still hear all about their love story in his music. Some fans have theorized that
the rapper's first love song, "She Needs Me," was written about Alford. After all,
there are many similarities between the successful woman described in the lyrics
and Lamar's real-life love. Five years after graduating high school, Alford went on to study
accounting at California State University, and the two have been inseparable ever since.
On his 2022 album "Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers," Lamar opened up about having been
unfaithful to Alford. On Instagram, his other half thanked him for his honesty, writing —
"I'm proud of the work we've done individually and as a family. [...] Healing can begin."
Lamar even honored his family by placing Alford
and their two children alongside himself in the album's artwork.
It was while LeBron James was just a junior at St. Vincent-St. Mary High School in Ohio
that he met Savannah Brinson, the woman who would become his wife. Even though
they attended rival schools, he was still interested in getting to know
the softball player and cheerleader right away. Unfortunately, she wasn't necessarily
into the idea at first — during an interview with Cleveland Magazine, she reminisced —
"One day I'm sitting around — I was probably bored or something — and I'm like, 'Oh,
I forgot! I have this number for this guy that I can call. He seemed interested, so let's see.'"
The basketball star invited her to one of his high school games — and from there,
his success only grew alongside his love. LeBron told The Hollywood Reporter —
"Savannah was with me shooting in the gym when I [had] absolutely nothing."
She's been supporting him from the sidelines ever since,
always there to support her All-Star husband.
"I mean, she's the real MVP if you wanna be completely honest. She's
actually the all-time leading scorer if you wanna be completely honest."
Today, the couple shares three children,
and Savannah is focused on maintaining a sense of normalcy for their famous family. After all,
that's exactly how their love story started. Savannah told The Cut —
"We were two kids who started dating, as any two high-school kids would. Believe it or not,
I didn't know that he was going to be what he is today."
Long before Patrick Mahomes ever played in the Super Bowl,
he was simply a high schooler from Texas trying to impress his girlfriend Brittany
Matthews. During a radio interview, the two-time NFL MVP admitted —
"[I was] just a normal teenage kid showing up at
the family dinner type stuff and being nervous and everything."
Thankfully, Mahomes has really had nothing to be nervous about. The lovebirds have
remained tight through plenty of formative life events — including high school prom,
long distance dating while attending separate universities,
and time apart as they each chased their respective sports dreams.
The two eventually tied the knot in 2022 and have two children together — a daughter,
Sterling Skye Mahomes, and a son, Patrick "Bronze" Lavon Mahomes. There aren't many
couples who can brag about experiencing two Super Bowl wins together, and the pair know they have
something worth celebrating. In 2020, Matthews dedicated an Instagram post to Mahomes, writing —
"You played safety & I was a cheerleader in a small town called Whitehouse,
TX… oh, how times have changed!"
Snoop Dogg may have a hit song called "Young,
Wild & Free," but he's actually been in the same romantic relationship since he
was in high school. It was during his time at Long Beach Polytechnic High School that he
met his now-wife Shante Broadus, where they attended prom together all those years ago.
The rapper attributes the success of his relationship to the moment in time
that they met. If young Snoop had a cell phone growing up, things would've been much different.
"I had to go over there and date her for, like, four months before I was
able to kiss her. I had to call her on the phone. I had to write love letters."
The two tied the knot in 1997, and Broadus quickly became more to him than just his high school
sweetheart. In fact, the savvy businesswoman has helped to guide her husband through his career
since the very beginning, long before he became the man that the world now knows as Snoop Dogg.
Through all of the ups and downs in their decades-long marriage — including a brief
separation in 2004 — Broadus and Snoop Dogg have always been there for each other. In 2008,
the rapper even surprised her with a special vow renewal ceremony.
For Bono and Ali Hewson, their love story began during a walk to a bus stop when they
were only high school students. When they began dating during their time at Mount
Temple School in Dublin, Ireland, it was a monumental year for the both of them. It
happened to be the very same year that his band U2 began playing together, and their
first performance was in the school gymnasium while Hewson was watching from the stands.
As the band began to experience success, Bono and his high school
sweetheart were still going strong — and he was deeply afraid such contentment could be
detrimental to his creative process. He wrote in his memoir "Surrender" —
"I was in love and becoming terrified that I would never write a truly great
love song because my heart was full, not broken."
Despite his worries, the singer-songwriter has created loads of successful music. He has even
channeled the love he has for his wife into the lyrics of some of his most beloved songs,
including "All I Want is You" and "Sweetest Thing." Hewson appears in
the "Sweetest Thing" music video, and all of the proceeds from that song are
given to Chernobyl Children's International — where Hewson sits on the board of directors.
It isn't always love at first sight, and 16-year-old Denise sure wasn't feeling it
when she met Alan Jackson at Newnan High School in Georgia. In an interview with TNN, she recalled —
"I do remember the first time he called me for a date. For some reason I just didn't want to
go out with him so I said no. [...] Probably a couple months after that first telephone
conversation he called me back. [...] I don't know what changed, but something changed in me."
When Denise did finally agree to a first date with the aspiring country star a few months later,
he took her around town in his white Thunderbird, and the rest is written
in music history — literally. In a statement published by Country Now, the crooner stated —
"There's been a zillion songs that have pieces of our good
days and bad days inspired, and they continue to."
Those good and bad days were documented by Denise Jackson in her tell-all book
"It's All About Him: Finding the Love of My Life," in which she
goes over her journey of forgiving her husband for his various infidelities.
To honor their 10th wedding anniversary, Alan wrote her a special love song to celebrate their
bond for his debut 1990 album, called "Here in the Real World." Another ballad of his, "I'd Love
You All Over Again," quickly found itself topping the country music charts, setting Jackson up for
both a successful career and a successful marriage with his high school sweetheart.
Young Ron Howard had always dreamed of telling stories on the big screen,
but he never could have dreamed up his own remarkable love story that began when he was
only a junior in high school. His now-wife Cheryl Alley has supported him ever since
they walked the halls of John Burroughs High School together. The director told HuffPost —
"I felt really lucky when we met. It's crazy — we were teenagers, it shouldn't have worked. We got
married young, that shouldn't have worked either, and yet it really and truly has."
"When I fell in love and found Cheryl, I had a sense of focus, confidence, excitement…"
In true filmmaker fashion, the two teenagers had their first date at a
local movie theater to see the re-release of Stanley Kramer's "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad,
Mad World" in the '70s. After tying the knot in 1975, they welcomed four children
into the world that have also seen success in the entertainment industry. There's "Jurassic
World" star Bryce Dallas Howard, professional golfer Reed Howard,
actor and children's book author Paige Carlyle Howard, and her twin sister, Jocelyn Howard.
After nearly half a century of marriage,
Howard and Alley's marriage is still strong. The filmmaker told People —
"I met her, and there was never anybody else."
Aisha Atkins had no idea who Ja Rule was when they met in high school — and neither did the
rest of the world. At the time, he was simply a boy from her woodshop class named Jeffrey
Atkins. Recalling his first interaction with his future wife, the rapper told Blender —
"She was cute, but she tried to play me at first. Then she
realized I was one of the cool guys at school and got with the program."
The two dated throughout their four years attending Martin Van Buren High School in Queens,
New York. In 2001, they went all out with their nuptials during a Godfather-themed wedding,
as 800 of their closest friends and family members watched them read their vows.
Over the years, the two have become parents, and even stuck it out through some very public
legal battles together. This has included Ja Rule's involvement in the disastrous
Fyre Festival and a lawsuit from the IRS over an alleged $3 million tax debt. In
his memoir "Unruly: The Highs and Lows of Becoming a Man," Rule reflected —
"I've known that woman for a long time. It's good to meet your soulmate,
so to speak, at an early age, and go through life together,
growing together. I watched her grow up, she watched me grow up."
As the world watched "16 and Pregnant" star Catelynn Lowell grow up on their
television screens, she had her high school sweetheart Tyler Baltierra by her side. The
pair met shortly before starring on the MTV reality series — and ever since,
their love story has been broadcasted to the world.
"You're a little flirt, especially in music class."
"We used to write notes back to each other."
"Yeah!"
When they were only halfway through high school,
the couple found out that they were expecting their first child. Lowell recalled to E! News —
"At that time, I didn't even have a cell phone. I didn't even have
my driver's license yet. I didn't have a car."
What she did have was the love of her life. Tyler proposed to Catelynn two separate times
after ending their first engagement, and the reality stars eventually went on to
tie the knot in front of fans during a special television episode of "Teen Mom
OG" in 2016. They've since welcomed three more daughters into the world together.
Like any long-haul couple, the two have continued to love and support each other through some tough
times. Both Lowell and Baltierra have been open about their respective experiences with
mental health issues, for which both have received treatment. While they briefly separated in 2018,
the couple had previously denied they were divorcing. Lowell told Us Weekly —
"We are a solid couple that will work through anything life throws at us."