Iconic performer Elton John has had hit after hit over the decades. The Rocketman performer has had a tumultous life, one made much sweeter when he met future husband David Furnish.

After almost 30 years together, Elton John and David Furnish has become one of the most famous same-sex celebrity couplings. They continue to work together to break stigmas and support worthy charities. Here’s how they found love.

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The legendary musician met the Canadian filmmaker and former advertising executive back in 1993, and the love connection was instant. At the time, John was newly sober after a decade of substance abuse. He had left his home in Atlanta to return to his estate in Windsor, England and decided to host a dinner party.

“I wanted to meet new people so I rang up a friend in London and said, ‘Could you please rattle some new people together for dinner here Saturday?’” he told Parade in 2010. Furnish had accompanied a friend on the evening, thinking it was going to be a dull affair. It was anything but, as the pair had an immediate attraction.

“I was attracted to David immediately,” John told Parade. “He had a real job, his own apartment, a car. He was independent. I didn’t need to take care of him. I thought, ‘God, this is new territory for me — someone wants to be with me just because he likes me.’ I knew he was the one because he is not afraid of me. He always tells me exactly what he thinks.”

The very next evening, they met up again for a one-on-one dinner at John’s home. One dinner led to more, and they quickly fell in love.

The pair eventually began working together. In 1997, Furnish made his directorial debut with Elton John: Tantrums and Tiaras, a documentary about the musician that earned a BAFTA award.

In 2005, Elton John popped the question while hosting a dinner party at their Windsor home. At the time, however, marriage was not legal for same-sex couples. They then made history by becoming one of the first couples in the UK to form a civil partnership on December 21, 2005.

On December 21,  2014, nine years exactly to the date, the pair officially tied the knot when gay marriage was made legal in the UK.

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This was not the first marriage for Elton John. He was engaged to Linda Hannon in 1970 before cancelling the wedding days before the ceremony. He later married sound technician Renate Blauel from 1983 to 1987. John had already come out as bisexual in 1976. Soon after their divorce, he told Rolling Stone Magazine that he was gay.

Throughout the course of their 27-year relationship, philanthropy has been close to their hearts. John is head of the Elton John AIDS Charity, and David serves on its board. Together, they work to break the stigma and raise awareness and funding for the AIDS crisis and programs around the world. Every year, their black tie charity event raises millions of dollars for the foundation.

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Samuel L Jackson surprised fans with some sweet words for his wife LaTanya on their 40th wedding anniversary. The pair have been together for half a century.

In an Instagram post, Jackson looked back at their 50 years together and gushed about his wife.

“50 years ago we started dancing, it was all fun & games. 40 years ago today, shit got real! The slow drag of our lives pressed together, I led sometimes, sometimes she did. We finally found that rhythm where there was no leader, we moved as one,” he wrote.

“We’re still glued together, hip to hip, a holding each other up, not covering as much of the floor, but owning & loving the space that’s ours. HAPPY ANNIVERSARY @ltjackson_ Love ? You for keeping me on my toes & on the beat for 18,250 days. You make my soul ? sing‼️Don’t change the tune, we’re not done dancing?????”

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The actors met pre-fame, back when Samuel attended Morehouse College. They tied the knot on August 18, 1980. Together, they have one daughter named Zoe (38).

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In an interview with Essence, LaTanya says the secret to their success is love has been their faith.

“You have to have a big heart and the Lord. You can’t do this without the Lord. You’re going to have to turn to somebody, something — because men, they are different. They’re cut from a different cloth.”

She adds that they’ve had a personal mantra that has kept them together.

“I’m telling you, we were revolutionaries. We used to say the most revolutionary thing was to keep a Black family together. So that became our mantra.”

Feature image: Instagram / Samuel L Jackson