Two years after the end of her marriage to James DeBarge, Jackson met and started dating songwriter René Elizondo Jr. in 1987. The pair dated for four years before they married secretly in 1991. Throughout their relationship, Elizondo Jr. helped Jackson with her music, and the two cowrote 37 songs together, including "That's the Way Love Goes" and "Lonely."
By the late '90s, however, their marriage had crumbled. They divorced in 2000, and Elizondo Jr. sued Jackson for $25 million in assets, claiming he signed their prenuptial agreement under duress. According to "Forbes," they settled his lawsuit in 2003 for $10 million.