What makes writing a song with a significant other [1] so special is how open you can be. Your romantic partner probably knows you better than anyone, so being vulnerable through music feels like a natural activity to do together, especially if you're artistically inclined. Plenty of celebrity couples have come together to write music, some of them over and over again. They put their ease and comfort with one another on the page — but the end product isn't always a love song. Working comfortably with another songwriter can result any kind of song, and that's exactly what the celebrity pairings in this gallery have done.
Still, even the power of music can't keep some high-profile couples together. While some of these musician couples penned a number of songs together, they ended up splitting. Their relationships might be over, but we can still remember the better times through their music. Of course, there's also music royalty: couples who have made a ton of music together and are seemingly in love for the long haul (*ahem* Beyoncé and Jay Z [2]). Ahead, read about 10 couples (past and present) who wrote songs together and what went into each collaboration.
Taylor Swift and Joe Alwyn — "Exile"
Taylor Swift [3] and her current boyfriend, Joe Alwyn, worked together on a handful of songs on her albums "Folklore" and "Evermore," including "Exile." Writing under the name William Bowery, Alwyn helped Swift pen songs that were a bit of a mystery to fans until she revealed the truth. Alwyn told Vulture [4] in early May that he found himself walking around the house during COVID singing and tinkering at the piano — which eventually became "Exile." "It was completely off the cuff, an accident," he said of writing "Exile." "[Swift] said, 'Can we try and sit down and get to the end together?' And so we did. It was as basic as some people made sourdough."
JP Saxe and Julia Michaels — "If the World Was Ending"
"If the World Was Ending" was the very first song JP Saxe and Julia Michaels wrote together. When they initially linked up to write the song in 2019, they'd never met before — but ended up falling in love. Michaels told Entertainment Tonight [5] in March 2021 that Saxe is one of her favourite songwriters. They went on to pen more songs together, but it's unclear if Michaels and Saxe are still together.
Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello — "Señorita"
Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello penned "Señorita" together in 2019 — right before the official announcement that they were a couple. It was the second track they'd written together, following "I Know What You Did Last Summer" in 2015. The song took a long time to come together, according to Billboard [6]: a group of songwriters started working on it in 2018, and when they brought Mendes in and told him the song should be a duet, he said "the only person" he'd do the song with was Cabello. While the song (and their relationship) was certainly steamy, Mendes and Cabello broke up [7] in fall 2021.
Yungblud and Halsey — "11 Minutes"
Halsey and Yungblud's song "11 Minutes" arrived on the airwaves in 2019 while the two were dating. Yungblud told NME [8] in March of that year, "Me and Halsey met for a drink just to talk about music, and to be honest, man, that never happens. Everyone's always wanting to see what they can get out of you. I was a massive fan of hers; she said she was a big fan of me, so I was like, 'Woah, that's cool.' We just met up, and we realised we had so much in common." This makes it sound like they wrote the song together before they even started dating (they began dating sometime near the end of 2018). They broke up in 2019 [9].
Mac Miller and Ariana Grande — "My Favourite Part"
Before Mac Miller and Ariana Grande [10] started dating, they wrote "My Favourite Part" together, according to People [11]. It was the third track they'd worked on together. "I wrote that love song before I saw her. We're very good friends, first and foremost," Miller told People in 2016. "We made that song and started becoming close again. It's very dope, and I like how that worked out." The two ended up getting together officially soon after that but broke up in mid-2018 [12], just months before Miller died from an accidental overdose.
John Mayer and Katy Perry — "Who You Love"
John Mayer [13] and Katy Perry [14] worked on "Who You Love" amid their on-again-off-again relationship (which went from 2012 to 2015). Released in 2013, "Who You Love" shows the two sides of being in love. Mayer told Billboard [15] in 2013 that the root of the song is "I love you based on the fact that I've tried to run, and I'm not running, and I give up." He added, "I immediately thought about Katy, and I was like, what a cool voice. What a cool artistic personality to have on. It was a really fun opportunity for her to write, like, her answer to that. So you get these two sides to this relationship that are brutally honest but no less universal."
Beyoncé and Jay Z — "Crazy in Love"
Beyoncé and her husband, Jay-Z, have worked on a number of tracks together; the very collaborative couple even tours together. The two copenned "Crazy in Love" in 2002 for Beyoncé's debut solo album not too long after they'd started dating. Producer Rich Harrison, who first brought the beat to Beyoncé, told MTV [16] in 2004 that the whole project started while he was hungover, and he wasn't sure the former Destiny's Child singer was even going to like what he was offering. But he worked with her for months on it before Jay-Z came in and laid down his rap in just a few hours, giving birth to one of the greatest songs of the century.
Avril Lavigne and Mod Sun — "Love It When You Hate Me"
When Avril Lavigne [17] started working on her album "Love Sux" in 2020, she was single. But then she met Mod Sun, who cowrote several of the album's tracks with her, and the two ended up dating and eventually got engaged. One track they wrote for the album is "Love It When You Hate Me," which also features Blackbear. Lavigne has spoken warmly of her fiancé and his musical abilities, telling Us Weekly [18] that he's a "really incredible songwriter."
Alicia Keys and Swizz Beatz — "Put It in a Love Song"
Alicia Keys [19] and Swizz Beatz wrote "Put It in a Love Song" while they were dating and just before they got married in 2010. But while Swizz wrote and produced the song, it's Beyoncé whose vocals appear on the track alongside Keys. The song is an upbeat track, with the two women singing about a man needing to figure out how to show his love.
The two have collaborated a few times throughout their marriage and even spoke about a fully collaborative album in May with Million Dollaz Worth of Game [20]. Keys said, "We have a real musical connection, actually for real. Like, anytime I'm doing anything, passing it to him, saying I'm working on this, I'm thinking about it, and he's giving me feedback when he's working on stuff, he's like, 'Oh this is what I'm feeling.'"
Meek Mill and Nicki Minaj — "All Eyes on You"
Meek Mill and Nicki Minaj cowrote "All Eyes on You," which was released in 2015 — several months after they started dating. The track, which alludes to the couple's first meeting, was just one piece of the couple's intense relationship. Despite how hot and heavy they were for much of their relationship, it fizzled out: Minaj confirmed their breakup [21] in 2017.
Celebrity Couples Who Wrote Music Together
