Paul Young had already scored a UK number-one hit with Wherever I Lay My Hat (That’s My Home) when he first set eyes on his future wife.
It was 1983 and Stacey Smith, then a model, was appearing in the video for the Luton-born crooner’s follow-up single, Come Back And Stay.
In hindsight, the name of the song was ironic, as Stacey would end up leaving Paul not once but twice during their 35 years together.
However, as with any solid bond, the couple managed to sail through those stormy waters and remain married right up until Stacey lost her battle with brain cancer earlier today.
Paul and Stacey had begun dating when, in 1986, she embarked on a fling with the motorcycle stuntman Eddie Kidd.
However, the singer was able to brush that off and eventually married his sweetheart the following year.
The couple went on to have three children together – two daughters, Levi and Layla, now 30 and 23, and a son, Grady, now 22.
Their relationship encountered a somewhat more significant blip in 2006 when Stacey told Paul that she was no longer happy.
Read more: Paul Young’s wife Stacey dies aged 52
Paul moved out of the family home in Hertfordshire, and Stacey became involved with an Israeli businessman, Ilan Slazenger, with whom she had a son, Jude.
But even that failed to destroy the Youngs’ marriage. And after Stacey split from Ilan, they decided to give it another go – three years after breaking up.
Paul moved back in with Stacey, and became the stepfather of his wife’s lovechild.
The singer later revealed his reasons for taking his wife back, telling the Mail Online: “You have to work at marriage, but it helps that I know we were meant to be together.
“I’ve known that since I met her. She’s funny, she has a good sense of humour. She’s a little bit wild, a little mad, but I love that about her.”
However, as tough as their relationship was, there was one thing it ultimately couldn’t overcome.
Stacey lost her life on Friday, at the tragically young age of 52, to a brain tumour.