Jon Batiste has something special planned for fans for the upcoming Super Bowl opening ceremony. As he works to compose an unforgettable performance, the musician remains devoted to his wife, who is facing her third cancer diagnosis.
On February 9, 2025, Jon Batiste will sing the national anthem at Super Bowl LIX. While continuing to make his mark in the music industry, he is also standing by his wife, Suleika Jaouad, as she battles cancer for the third time. Here’s a look at their love story.
How Batiste Met, Fell in Love, and Married His Wife amid Her Second Diagnosis
During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Batiste’s wife shared on Instagram how they met. In a post accompanied by photos of the couple, Jaouad revealed that she first met Batiste when she was 13 and he was a year older. They met at a place she finds embarrassing—band camp.
Over the years, she has learned more about the creative process from him than from any degree or craft book. Reacting to the post, one fan commented, “I didn’t know that! How cute!!”
Batiste fell in love with music at an early age, starting to play the drums at eight. By 12, he had moved on to the piano, an instrument he quickly mastered. He has since become a renowned vocalist, composer, actor, arranger, and “harmonabord” player.
In 2011, Jaouad was diagnosed with cancer for the first time, and doctors gave her only a 35 percent chance of survival. However, she defied the odds. After falling in love with Batiste, the couple married in February 2022—shortly after the then 33-year-old was diagnosed with leukemia for the second time.
The “We Are” artist and his wife tied the knot in their new home after eight years together. The couple’s intimate wedding, attended only by close family, symbolized a fresh start. Batiste described their home as a sanctuary, a space that reflects both of them and serves as a place to recharge.
It took them three years to renovate, carefully selecting and building furniture, and adding details to make it perfect. Their marriage was a last-minute decision, making it even more intimate. The singer explained, “It was one of those things that we did the day before her bone marrow transplant, it was a very deep time in our lives, obviously for so many reasons.”
The couple decided to go ahead with their wedding after realizing they had a small window before her transplant. Jaouad, the author of the bestselling cancer memoir “Between Two Kingdoms,” revealed that her diagnosis wasn’t what prompted Batiste’s proposal. The Grammy-winning musician had spent a year designing her engagement ring.
Laughing, Jaouad recalled, “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!”
A few months later, Batiste shared an update on his wife’s condition, saying she was “doing better.” He added, “Every single day we are praying and continuing the — I mean, she is incredible,” noting that if you saw her, you wouldn’t know what she was going through.
The musician further explained her resilience, “She has this ability to take the toughest challenges and make them life-affirming. So, with her it’s a special case. How she’s doing, it’s a Suleika thing.”
Sadly, in October 2023, when asked about her odds of survival following her second diagnosis, she responded, “Less than that,” referencing the previous stats for her first diagnosis. However, she remained hopeful, noting that her prognosis could improve if science advances or if a new suitable donor emerges. But then, something even worse happened.
Jaouad’s Third Cancer Diagnosis
In 2023, fans got a closer look at Jaouad’s cancer journey in the Netflix documentary “American Symphony.” Her cancer returned at the same time her husband debuted an original symphony bearing the same name as their documentary.
One scene showed the couple playing Simon Says while walking through a hospital hallway during Jaouad’s chemotherapy treatment. In a voiceover, Batiste said, “I feel a strong, strong, strong desire to take the pain away. But I can’t.” He continued, “This is a moment, a test, and it’s nobody’s fault, and nobody can control it.”
While the couple remained hopeful, in late 2024, Jaouad took to Instagram to share heartbreaking news, posting several photos and videos. She explained that reviewing her entire camera roll from start to finish is one of her end-of-year traditions.
In the post, she also revealed that when she did it the previous day, she was overwhelmed with gratitude and broke down in tears. She revealed the resurgence of her cancer.
The author and producer reflected, “When you learn for the third time you have cancer, it’s easy to feel hopeless. But my photos showed me that even in the hardest moments, there were so many joys. That life is not a monolith. That our forever work is to learn to hold the brutal and beautiful in the same palm.”