Old Photos of Jay-Z, 28, With Beyonce — Then Only 16 — Raise the Alarm Over One Serious Issue

Beyoncé and Jay-Z have spent over two decades navigating a relationship filled with drama and surprises. From their secret wedding to rumors of infidelity, their fiercely guarded relationship has become the ultimate icon of music’s royal couple. Amid their success and mutual creativity, the current focus has turned to their early years, raising concerns about how old they were when they first met and whether age differences have affected their relationship. This has especially made headlines after Jay-Z’s name recently came up in a sexual assault case with Sean “Diddy” Combs, which increased attention and sparked new questions about his relationship with Beyoncé.

Beyoncé once shared that she first met Jay-Z when she was 18, and they were friends for a year before things grew romantic. However, Jay-Z has claimed they connected when Beyoncé was just 16, confidently declaring, “She will be mine.” He was 28 at the time, as reported by Daily Mail .

Now, a recently resurfaced photo , believed to be from the set of Destiny’s Child’s video for No, No, No , showed they met just two months after Beyoncé’s 16th birthday. Despite this, there’s no indication that anything romantic occurred between them at the time. Another image shows Jay-Z at Prime Time 21 nightclub on January 31, 1998, watching a 16-year-old Beyoncé perform.

The couple have now been married for more than a decade, and share three children, Blue Ivy, and twins Sir and Rumi. During an interview with Oprah Winfrey on the Oprah Winfrey Network in 2013, Beyoncé said, “We were friends first for a year and a half before we went on any dates. We were on the phone for a year and a half, and that foundation is so important for a relationship. Just to have someone who you just like is so important, and someone [who] is honest.”

On the other hand, Jay-Z publicly confirmed their meeting when Beyoncé was 16 in a heartfelt Instagram post in 2013, expressing his deep admiration for her. He shared several photos of  Beyoncé and Ivy before expressing his love for his wife. In the caption, he wrote, “The way she has changed my life… If I didn’t have her…? Where would I be? Who would I be? Sometimes I wonder if I would still be Jay-Z. It’s so surreal. The first time I laid eyes on her she was 16. I had thought in my head “she will be mine”, became my best friend… 20 years old, it was time… before you knew it she made me swallow my pride and my own words bit me in the a**… “Forever mackin’ – 8 years later, married, one kid. She saved me.”

The couple officially confirmed their relationship when they graced the cover of Variety in November 2001. They got married in April 2008, keeping the ceremony private at first, but later sharing glimpses of their special day. In Beyoncé’s 2016 video for All Night from her Lemonade album, she featured moments from their wedding, including intimate footage alongside family clips, as reported by USA Today . In 2017, Beyoncé again celebrated their ninth anniversary with a heartfelt Instagram post, sharing a video for Die With You , which featured more touching moments from their wedding, including them walking down the aisle.