SULEIKA Jaouad is a star musician and the wife of Grammy nominated performer Jon Batiste.
Jon will be performing at the Super Bowl 2025, alongside a slew of other incredible stars.
Life as a musical prodigy
Suleika was born on July 5, 1988, and grew up in New York City.
She attended the pre-college program at the Julliard School, where she studied the double bass.
The musician graduated with the highest honors from Princeton University in 2010, after majoring in new Eastern Studies.
While at Princeton, Suleika worked on several human rights campaigns and studied abroad in Africa.
The star earned a Master’s degree in Writing and Literature from Bennington College.
Sadly, at the age of 22, Suleika was diagnosed with leukaemia leading her to write a column for the New York Times entitled Life, Interrupted.
Suleika has served as a member of Barack Obama’s Presidential Cancer Panel, the Bone Marrow and Cancer Foundation, and the Brooklyn Public Library’s Arts & Letters Committee.
In 2019, Suleika’s released her Ted Talk What Almost Dying Taught Me About Living.
A year later, she published Between Two Kingdoms: A Memoir of a Life Interrupted.
Meeting Jon Batiste
Jon Batiste and Suleika Jaouad met as teenagers while at band camp.
Suleika took to Instagram to share the story of how they met when she was just 13.
She captioned the post: “Over the last two decades I’ve learned more about the creative process from [Jon] than any craft book or fancy degree.”
After meeting, the pair grew close and began a relationship.
During the Covid quarantine of 2020, Jon opened up to People about his time with Suleika.
He said: “Obviously there’s so much loss that we’ve faced individually and collectively, but I find that this time has also been a blessing in that it gives us a break to be with each other.”
Tying the knot
The Grammy-nominated musician and best-selling author revealed to CBS Sunday Morning that they secretly married in February 2022 after Suleika was diagnosed with leukaemia for a second time.
Suleika said: “We have known that we wanted to get married, I think, from the first week that we started dating.
“That’s when Jon first brought up the topic of marriage to me.
“So, we’ve had eight years.
“This is not, you know, a hasty decision!”
Jon and Suleika married in 2022[/caption]
Suleika’s superstar husband
Jon Batiste, 35, was born on November 11, 1986, and grew up in Louisiana.
Coming from the musical Batiste family, Jon grew up playing a wide range of musical instruments.
At 17, Jon released his debut album, Times in New Orleans.
He studied at the Julliard School and graduated with a Master’s in Jazz Studies.
Jon has earned 20 Grammy nominations thus far in his career and has worked with artists including Lana Del Rey and Prince.
Jon starred in the documentary American Symphony which documented his process of recording the composition of the same name.
It also took fans behind the scenes of Suleika’s battle with leukaemia.
The documentary received a Best Original Song nomination at the 2024 Academy Awards.
Jon will be performing The Star Spangled Banner at the Super Bowl 2025.
The Big Game will take place on February 9, 2025, and will feature performances by Kendrick Lamar, SZA and a pre-show set by Post Malone.
