Iconic Celebrity Power Couples Who Ruled The '70s

Some of Hollywood's most iconic celebrity pairings emerged in the '70s. These movie stars, music legends, and muses captivated the world with their glamorous romances. It was a timeless era full of magic, nostalgia, and groovy fashion choices, and many of these couples represented the zeitgeist of the decade and continue to attract curiosity.

From legendary rock and roll frontmen to silver screen sirens, the 1970s were a breeding ground for swoon-worthy relationships that dominated tabloid headlines. The trailblazing members of the Beatles famously pursued life-changing romances during the era, and famous ladies' men like Burt Reynolds and Jack Nicholson met their matches in powerful partners.

The media had a field day with the always-explosive Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, just like they couldn't get enough of TV sensations Farrah Fawcett and Lee Majors. While some of these romantic dalliances have long since been forgotten, many of these couples have had a massive impact on pop culture and remain a topic of discussion to this day. 

Music legend and the Beatles superstar John Lennon began both a creative and romantic relationship with avant-garde artist Yoko Ono in 1966, the two joining forces in both their music and activism despite his marriage to Cynthia Powell. The couple got married in 1969, and fans of the iconic band often blamed Ono for their breakup in 1970, though they were already looking to pursue other musical aspirations.

"When I fell in love with Yoko, I knew, my God, this is different from anything I've ever known," Lennon once said via People. "This is more than a hit record, more than gold, more than everything." Despite the backlash, Lennon and Ono collaborated on albums, including the Grammy-winning "Double Fantasy," becoming one of the industry's most recognizable pairings.

Lennon and Ono welcomed son Sean together in 1975, though their relationship came to a tragic end when Lennon was shockingly shot and killed by Mark David Chapman in 1980. "What I miss most about John is his incredible tenderness and his belief in me," Ono poignantly told People. 

Sally Field and Burt Reynolds famously fell in love while filming the 1977 classic "Smokey and the Bandit," with the leading man pushing for her casting after studios claimed she wasn't attractive enough. Sparks flew between the actors and their romance captivated the masses, with the two starring in four films together until they first broke up in 1980 (making the split permanent in 1982). Field said her Oscar-winning film "Norma Rae" and Reynolds' controlling behavior were major catalysts for their demise.

"By the time we met, the weight of his stardom had become a way for Burt to control everyone around him, and from the moment I walked through the door, it was a way to control me. We were a perfect match of flaws," she wrote in her memoir "In Pieces" via Country Living. For his part, Reynolds still loved Field decades after their split. "She was the love of my life and I screwed the relationship up. That sense of loss never goes away," he told the Daily Mail in 2016, two years before his death. 

Screen siren Elizabeth Taylor and Welsh star Richard Burton's explosive relationship spanned decades, wth the two first falling in love during production of 1962's "Cleopatra" and beginning one of old Hollywood's most scandalous affairs. Both actors were already married, and their brazen romance was even condemned by the Vatican, which they declared "erotic vagrancy." The couple's whirlwind relationship became constant tabloid fodder, and they eventually married in 1964, with the media affectionately dubbing them "Liz and Dick."

Taylor and Burton shared the screen in 11 films together before divorcing in 1974, their lavish lifestyles and personalities leading to their first split. They remarried in 1975 and were together less than a year when they called it quits again, though Taylor and Burton remained connected up until his death in 1984. Taylor claimed that Burton had even sent her a letter before his passing, professing his love. "I was still madly in love with him the day he died. I think he still loved me, too," she told Vogue via Biography. 

Hollywood superstars Jack Nicholson and Angelica Huston were the epitome of cool in the '70s. The duo first struck up a romance in 1973 after she attended his 36th birthday party and immediately hit it off. They remained in an on-again/off-again relationship until 1990, collaborating on screen three times, including in 1985's "Prizzi's Honor," for which Huston won an Oscar. "I never had a greater moment," Nicholson told Rolling Stone of watching his partner take home the coveted statuette.

A bona fide "It" couple throughout their high-profile romance, the couple never married or had children. Their relationship came to an end in 1990 after Nicholson fathered a child with actor Rebecca Broussard, a twist of fate that deeply hurt Huston. "The fact that Rebecca Broussard had become pregnant where I had failed made me feel inadequate and bitter," she wrote in her memoir "Watch Me." Despite the circumstances around their split, the movie stars remained close following their breakup. 

Folk rock duo Sonny and Cher first skyrocketed to fame in 1965 with their transcendent hit single "I Got You Babe," before going on to release five studio albums and starring in the variety show "The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour." They officially married in 1969, and they welcomed their only child, Chaz Bono, that same year. Sonny and Cher's dazzling dynamic on stage and in the music world propelled them to further superstardom during the decade.

While to the public their relationship looked glamorous, Cher pulled back the veil of their true dynamic in "Cher: The Memoir, Part One," revealing that Sonny's controlling nature and cheating led to their split. Cher was convinced by comedy legend Lucille Ball to leave her husband. "F*** him, you're the one with the talent," Ball told Cher in her memoir via Rolling Stone. The music icons ended their romantic relationship in 1972 but remained together publicly until 1974 in an effort to protect their careers. 

Undeniably one of classic Hollywood's most beloved couples, Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward were adored by those both in the industry and outside of it. They first met in 1953 during production of the Broadway show "Picnic" before falling in love in 1957 while filming "The Long, Hot Summer," after which Newman divorced his wife, Jackie Witte, to pursue Woodward.

Following their nuptials in 1958, the couple's romance became the talk of the town, and they eventually welcomed three daughters together. "He's very good looking and very sexy and all of those things, but all that goes out the window, and what finally is left is if you can make somebody laugh, then that's very important," Woodward told "Today" (via People). "And he sure does keep me laughing."

Newman and Woodward stayed together for 50 years until his death in 2008, the two celebrating their golden anniversary shortly before his passing. "I feel privileged to love that woman," he said at the gathering via Biography. "That I am married to her is the joy of my life." 

Following the devastating assassination of her husband, President John F. Kennedy, in 1963, Jackie Kennedy married her longtime friend and Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis in 1968. She felt Onassis could provide both her and her children with the protection and privacy they needed, as being a mother was the most important thing to Jackie after her unfathomable loss.

Their union sparked intense media backlash, even by the Catholic Church, as Jackie had been Catholic and Onassis Greek Orthodox. The Vatican's newspaper, L'Osservatore della Domenica, even declared her a "public sinner" (via The New York Times). In spite of the blowback, Kennedy and Onassis became one of the world's biggest power couples and remained together until his death in 1975.

"Jackie is a little bird that needs its freedom as well as its security and she gets them both from me," Onassis once said of their relationship via Closer. "She can do exactly as she pleases ... and I, of course, will do exactly as I please."

Groundbreaking musician Paul McCartney is one of the best-selling artists of all time thanks to both his solo work and music with the Beatles. He fell for photographer Linda Eastman in 1967 after she photographed the iconic group, and the two tied the knot in 1969. Together, the couple formed the Grammy-winning band Wings in 1971 and toured the world, becoming rock-and-roll royalty and dominating the music scene in the '70s.

The talented couple shared four children together and remained married for nearly 30 years until 1998, when Linda sadly passed away from breast cancer at 56. The music culture icon later revealed that the couple spent less than a week apart throughout their decades-spanning marriage. "I think I cried for about a year on and off," McCartney said to the BBC about his grief. "You expect to see them walk in, this person you love, because you are so used to them. I cried a lot. It was almost embarrassing except it seemed the only thing to do." 

Tinseltown titans Natalie Wood and Robert Wagner were initially married from 1957 to 1962, with Wood divorcing the actor after she allegedly caught him having an affair. Though they both moved on with new partners (Wood with famous ladies' man Warren Beatty) following their split, they reunited in 1972 and caused the media to go wild with excitement. They remarried that same year and once again became one of Hollywood's golden couples until Wood's tragic death in 1981.

Wood drowned at 43 on a weekend boat trip with Wagner and Christopher Walken. Though it was initially ruled an accidental drowning, questions loomed over the circumstances of her death as her sister Lana claimed she had been "terrified" of the water after a traumatic childhood experience (via The Telegraph). On the 44th anniversary of Wood's death, Wagner honored his late wife with a heartfelt Instagram post. "Thinking of Nat today. Her warmth, beauty, and love remain with us through our children and grandchildren. Forever missed, forever cherished. More than love." 

Rock and roll crooner Johnny Cash famously fell head-over-heels for fellow singer June Carter in the '60s despite both of them being married. The two had an affair and subsequently married after he proposed to her on stage in 1968 in front of 7,000 people. The iconic duo remained devoted to one another, and they were beloved in the music world, penning touching songs about their love while raising a family and touring together.

"I can't remember anything else we talked about, except his eyes," Carter wrote of her first meeting with Cash via Biography. "Those black eyes that shone like agates ... He had a command of his performances that I had never before." The couple remained an admired pillar in music until Carter's death in 2003 at 73 after heart valve surgery. Her passing devastated Cash. Just four months later, the Man in Black died from complications from diabetes at 71, though some fans of the duo believe it was actually from a broken heart. 

TV icons Farrah Fawcett and Lee Majors were set up on a blind date in the late '60s by his publicist and tied the knot in 1973. Both actors dominated the small screen throughout the decade with their unforgettable roles in "Charlie's Angels" and "The Six Million Dollar Man," respectively. The glamorous couple separated in 1979 and divorced in 1982, after which Fawcett became romantically involved with fellow star Ryan O'Neal and Majors with Playboy model Karen Velez.

When Fawcett passed away in 2009 at just 62 from cancer, Majors reacted to her heartbreaking death and told Entertainment Tonight (via OK!) Fawcett was "an angel on earth." He further reflected on their romance in an interview with People, revealing that their busy schedules proved difficult to overcome. "But there was a year or so when I think I saw her two weeks in one year. It's very difficult with careers like that. This business is tough. Working 14 hours a day, both of you, and the days went by." 

"Chameleon of Rock," David Bowie was revered for pioneering glam rock, and in 1970, he married model Angie Barnett after meeting her at a show in London. Angela frequently accompanied her husband as he toured internationally and helped promote his music, helping craft his androgynous image. They shared an open relationship and often dated other people, with Angela later revealing that their marriage was actually one of convenience.

"We got married so that I could [get a permit to] work. I didn't think it would last and David said, before we got married, 'I'm not really in love with you' and I thought that's probably a good thing," Angela told The Standard. Together, the couple had a son, Duncan (formerly Zowie), in 1971, but ended up divorcing in 1980. Angela would go on to claim she was blackballed by the music industry as a result of their breakup. "Despite our decade of marriage and a child together I was airbrushed out of his life," she wrote in the Daily Mail. 

Fleetwood Mac is one of the world's best-selling musical acts. The rock band's legendary members Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham first dated prior to joining the group in 1975. The musicians' tumultuous romance began in 1972 and lasted until 1976, with the duo frequently arguing while composing their chart-topping eponymous record. They set aside their differences when it came to recording, pouring their emotions out through their music.

"When we joined Fleetwood Mac, I said, 'Okay, this is what we've been working for since 1968. And so, Lindsey, you and I have to sew this relationship back up. We have too much to lose here,' Nicks told Billboard of navigating their rocky relationship. Though they remained professional for the sake of the band following their split, Buckingham was fired from the group in 2018 and blamed his ex. "It was all Stevie's doing," Buckingham said to People. "Stevie basically gave the band an ultimatum that either I had to go or she would go." 

Ultimate lothario and The Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger is no stranger to the ladies, as the musician's love life has garnered endless fascination throughout the decades. In 1970, Jagger began a relationship with activist Blanca Pérez-Mora Macías and, in 1971, they married, effectively establishing themselves as one of rock's most captivating couples of the decade. The pair frequented the iconic Studio 54 and were photographed looking cool and glamorous throughout their highly-publicized marriage, which lasted until 1978.

​​"I wasn't attracted to Mick for physical reasons," Bianca once told People. "I found him shy, vulnerable, human — the opposite of everything I had ever imagined. It sounds silly, but it was like a bolt of lightning." Unsurprisingly, Bianca filed for divorce from Jagger because of his alleged adultery, though she too was said to have strayed outside the marriage. "It's probably the most male-chauvinistic-oriented society. A rock star is the worst husband a woman could have," Bianca said to Vanity Fair in 1986. 

Known as the "King of Rock and Roll," music icon Elvis Presley famously married Priscilla Beaulieu in 1967, years after the two first met in 1959 when he was in the military. At the time, Priscilla was just 14, and Elvis was 10 years her senior. She described herself as "Elvis' living doll, to fashion as he pleased," (via Time). Together, they welcomed daughter Lisa Marie in 1968 but were plagued by infidelity, with divorce coming for the world-famous couple in 1973.

"It was a different time," she told The Hollywood Reporter. "I lived in his world. I wanted to please him. I wanted to fit in. I wanted to have fun with him. I wanted to see what it was that he liked." After his shocking death in 1977 at 42, Priscilla founded the Elvis Presley Enterprises that helped oversee his Graceland estate. His funeral was attended by over 80,000 people, all of whom lined up at the gates of his beloved home. "I was still shocked. It was just too hard to believe," she said to Today.

Yet another beloved member of the Beatles to have a high-profile relationship, musician George Harrison first began his romance with model/photographer Pattie Boyd in 1964, with the pair getting hitched in 1966.  Paul McCartney even served as his bandmate's best man for their nuptials. Their relationship became one of the rock world's most buzzed-about, though they ultimately separated in 1974 and divorced in 1977.

Boyd blamed Harrison's drug use and many infidelities for their split, including an affair with Ringo Starr's wife, Maureen. In a strange twist, she moved on with Harrison's close friend and fellow musician, Eric Clapton, thus creating an infamous love triangle that fueled years of tabloid gossip. Boyd was famously the inspiration for multiple love songs by both artists, most notably "Something" by Harrison and "Layla" by Clapton. "Just because things didn't work out as we planned, it didn't diminish our love for each other," she told People about their relationship.