Who is Jon Batiste's wife Suleika Jaouad? Meet Super Bowl national anthem singer's best-selling author spouse

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Jon Bastiste is the Grammy winning musician chosen to perform the National Anthem at the Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans.

While the world best knows him for his projects, including celebrated album We Are, less is known about the star's private life.

The singer-songwriter has been in a long-term relationship with wife Suleika Jaouad, after the pair first met at band camp.

Suleika is an accomplished journalist, motivational speaker and author who has inspired followers around the world due to her public battle with a rare form of cancer.

The 36-year-old was diagnosed with a rare form of acute myeloid leukemia in 2011, with doctors giving her a 35 percent chance of survival.

Since then, the writer has taken the world along on her health journey, penning her best-selling memoir Between Two Kingdoms in 2021 as well as writing the 'Life, Interrupted' column in The New York Times.

That same year Suleika revealed her cancer had returned and that she had undergone a second bone marrow transplant.

Months later, the writer and her husband revealed that they had finally tied the knot in February 2022.

Singer-songwriter Jon Batiste has been in a long-term relationship with wife Suleika Jaouad 

February 2 saw the pair celebrate celebrating Grammy wins for best music film and for song written for visual media for the documentary, American Symphony

Suleika was born and raised in New York City and studied the double bass in a pre-college program at the elite Juilliard School.

She majored in Near Eastern Studies as Princeton University with a double minor in French and Gender studies in 2010, in that time she played in the University Orchestra.

Just one year later, aged 22, she was first diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia.

AML is a type of blood cancer where abnormal white blood cells (myeloblasts) rapidly multiply in the bone marrow, crowding out healthy blood cells. 

The writer then began to spend her time teaching writing and wellness workshops.

Traveling around the States, she shares motivational speeches at high schools, universities, hospitals, corporations, fund-raisers and professional events. 

She also documented her experience as a young adult battling cancer in The New York Times column, as well as creating an Emmy Award-winning video series titled Life, Interrupted.

In 2019, she released a TED Talk titled 'What almost dying taught me about living.'  

 Suleika is accomplished journalist, motivational speaker and author who has inspired followers around the world due to her public battle with a rare form of cancer

Though the Jon and the author first met as teenagers, they reconnected when Jon visited her in the hospital while she was first going through treatment

Over the years she has been featured on NPR's Talk of the Nation, NBC's Weekend Today, CBS News, The Paris Review, the Los Angeles Times and Darling magazine, among others.

In 2020, she earned her masters in writing and literature from Bennington College.

Though Jon and the author first met as teenagers, they reconnected when Jon visited her in the hospital while she was first going through treatment. 

During a 2021 appearance on the PEOPLE Every Day podcast, Batiste revealed that their relationship was the inspiration for his emotional track, Show Me the Way.

After eight years together, the pair exchanged vows in 2022 - the day before Suleika was admitted to hospital to undergo a bone marrow transplant.

Speaking to CBS Sunday Morning, Suleika revealed the happy news they had wed.  

She said: 'We got married the day before I was admitted to the hospital to undergo my bone marrow transplant.'

The writer jokingly added: '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!'

AML is a type of blood cancer where abnormal white blood cells (myeloblasts) rapidly multiply in the bone marrow, crowding out healthy blood cells.

In 2021, Suleika revealed her cancer had returned and that she had undergone a second bone marrow transplant

But the writer insisted her relapse wasn't a factor in the musician's proposal.

Suleika continued: 'He said to me, "I just want to be very clear, I'm not proposing to you because of this diagnosis. It's taken me a year to design your ring.

'"So, just know this timing has nothing to do with it. But what I do want you to know is that this diagnosis doesn't change anything. It just makes it all the clearer to me that I want to commit to this and for us to be together."'

She added that once they realized they had a 'tiny window' to do it before the transplant they decided to go for it. 

The couple were able to quickly obtain their marriage license and had a 'tiny' and 'perfect' wedding - but 'used bread ties' instead of formal wedding rings. 

Suleika added that they then walked in to get the bone marrow transplant 'on cloud nine' and were 'brimming with love and positivity' that helped carry them both through.

To date, Suleika is the best-selling author of Between Two Kingdoms: A Memoir of a Life Interrupted, which 'traces her journey from diagnosis to remission and, ultimately, a road trip of healing and self-discovery.'

She is also a painter and was previously an artist in residence at ArtYard, Ucross and the Kerouac Project. 

The writer and her husband revealed that they had finally tied the knot in February 2022 -the day before Suleika was admitted to hospital to undergo her transplant 

The couple were able to quickly obtain their marriage license and had a 'tiny' and 'perfect' wedding - but 'used bread ties' instead of formal wedding rings 

Suleika also served on Barack Obama's Presidential Cancer Panel, the Bone Marrow and Cancer Foundation and the national advisory board of Family Reach. 

Fans got a glimpse into the private couple's life in the documentary, American Symphony, which followed Jon ahead of his orchestral debut at Carnegie Hall - all while his wife faced a cancer resurgence.

February 2 saw the pair celebrate celebrating Grammy wins for best music film and for song written for visual media for the documentary.

Taking to Instagram, they wrote: 'On this lazy Sunday, life is good! We’re so honored to win the Grammy for Best Music Film (and also for Song Written For Visual Media too!). 

'We couldn't make it to the ceremony but we’re beaming love from our couch to yours, and sending gratitude to all who made this film possible.'