Jay-Z and Beyoncé, who reportedly wed last Friday, join a list of married music power couples that includes Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony, Nas and Kelis, and Faith Hill and Tim McGraw. Of course, the couple hasn't confirmed the nuptials, but a friend told People magazine they wed at Jay-Z's Tribeca apartment. Other music husband-and-wife teams that preceded Jay-Z and Beyoncé have seen mixed post-marriage sales numbers. Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony both saw a decrease in album sales after they exchanged vows on June 5, 2004. Before their union, Lopez released three albums, which have sold a combined 8.1 million in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Lopez's 2005 album, Rebirth, has sold 731,000 copies, while a pair of 2007 albums, Como Ama Una Mujer and Brave, sold 200,000 and 154,000, respectively. Anthony released seven albums between 1994 and 2004, with combined sales of 2.5 million. Sigo Siendo Yo, released in 2006, has moved 151,000 copies, while his 2007 album, El Cantante, has sold 183,000. Nas and Kelis have seen a decline since their January 2005 wedding. In comparison, Faith Hill and Tim McGraw have seen steady sales since they married in 1996. Hill's two albums released before marrying McGraw have sold a combined 3.6 million. McGraw's three have sold 9.3 million. While McGraw's biggest selling album is 1994 release Not a Moment Too Soon, with six million sold, Hill's is Breathe, with 6.5 million copies, released three years after her marriage to McGraw. Like Hill and McGraw, Beyoncé and Jay-Z have achieved success working together. The pair collaborated on songs "'03 Bonnie and Clyde," which reached No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100, and "Crazy in Love," which topped the chart.
PEOPLE EXCLUSIVE: BEYONCE AND JAY-Z FILE SIGNED MARRIAGE LICENSE
Beyoncé and Jay-Z are mum, but their paperwork is doing the talking for them: The couple filed their signed wedding license Friday in Scarsdale, N.Y., PEOPLE has confirmed exclusively. Scarsdale Town Clerk Donna Conkling tells PEOPLE the license – which lists the wedding date as April 4 – was received on Friday afternoon. The couple applied for the license just three days before the ceremony attended by friends and family, including Beyoncé's mother Tina Knowles, her father/manager Mathew, her sister Solange, her Destiny's Child pals Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams, and the couple's friend Gwyneth Paltrow. Although the couple's license was filed more than five days after the wedding – as required by law – Conkling tells PEOPLE it's expected to be processed with the state without a penalty. Though sources confirmed the wedding to PEOPLE, the couple have remained silent about their nuptials. Shortly after the wedding, Beyonce was spotted with a ring while joining Jay-Z on tour, but neither of them have publicly stepped out with new jewelry.
Four big celebrity mid-week magazines have been accused of racism after failing to put news of Beyonce and Jay-Z’s wedding on their cover. The accusation surfaced after Ben Widdicombe, a New York Daily News columnist noted that only Us Weekly, one of the five mid-week glossies, put the power couple’s wedding on its cover. He said one top editor blamed the lack of attention on a perception in the industry that ‘African-Americans don't sell covers.’ Only media mogul, Oprah Winfrey, was seen by many as being able to sell covers. But Us Weekly editor in chief Janice Min, the only non-white to be in charge of a top US celebrity magazine told Widdicombe: "Janet Jackson has been on our cover twice, for two of our best-selling issues we've ever had." Some sources suggested that black stars would get much less than white and latino stars for exclusive wedding photos. They said Eva Longoria can get US$1 million for wedding photos, but Beyonce could have received as little as US$250,000 for hers, without the expectation of cover sales. Last week, magazine publisher and black gossip pioneer Flo Anthony blasted such claims on Blacknews.com. "That sounds to me a very racist statement. Beyoncé is one of the biggest stars in the world, much bigger than Eva Longoria."
Beyonce Knowles’ little sister, Solange, has sent a message out to Britney Spears’ pregnant little sister, Jamie Lynn — urging her to do “what’s best”. Knowles, who gave birth to son Daniel in 2004 at the age of 18 and split with husband, former college football player Daniel Smith, after the baby was born, said: “I’m sure a lot of people perceived that I was gonna be a young, irresponsible mom.” But Knowles, now 21, pointed out, “I think that there are some moms who are 35 who are just as irresponsible.” And her advice for 17-year-old Jamie Lynn is that, “You just have to make the best decisions for you,” Knowles said. “You have to decide what’s best for you. “Who are we to say what’s right and wrong for a person?” To focus on raising her son, Knowles said she “moved to the country for a year” without any nannies or babysitters. “My parents lived on a whole opposite part of the world,” she said. “My son has been my focus ever since the day he was born.” “He’s been the light of my life,” she added to Us Weekly, “the inspiration behind everything.”
Like many of Jay-Z and Beyoncé Knowles's friends and colleagues, Rihanna had no idea about the happy couple's hush-hush nuptials last week. "I didn't know!" Rihanna told PEOPLE at the Escada Moon Sparkle/Island Def Jam benefit for her Believe Foundation and DKMS, the world's largest bone marrow donor center. "No one knew!" (Although the wedding has not been officially confirmed, sources tell PEOPLE the ceremony did take place April 4 and Knowles has been spotted wearing a huge ring.) Among those in the audience at Manhattan's Highland Ballroom were L.A. Reid and Rihanna's "friend" Chris Brown. "Chris said it was a good show," the 20-year-old said of her rumored beau. "He really enjoyed it." After the show, Rihanna met with several young bone marrow transplant patients. "You are so beautiful," she told 15-year-old Camila Mera. 
First came Crazy in Love, then came the hush-hush marriage – could the baby carriage be far behind? "Whenever Beyoncé decides to have a child, I definitely think she'll be banging on my door," younger sister Solange Knowles tells PEOPLE. In fact, when it comes to kids, Solange – single mom to 3-year-old Daniel Julez – claims Beyoncé has a lot to learn. "She's kept my son over the weekend," says the 21 year-old singer and actress. "She'll call me like, 'How do you get this stroller out? And what about the car seat? I don't know how you do this!' And I'm like, 'People do it every day.' " Knowles spoke with PEOPLE about life and her new album – SoL-AngeL and the Hadley St. Dreams – and her latest single, the '60s-inspired "I Decided." While admitting that she's the more outspoken of the Knowles sisters, Solange managed to keep mum about Beyoncé's extravagant wedding to Jay-Z which, sources tells PEOPLE, happened April 4 in New York City. "I don't know anything about [a wedding]," she insisted four days later, adding coyly, "You'll have to ask her yourself." And while she may be happy to share parenting tips, don't expect Solange to dole out any marriage advice. "I got married at 17 and divorced at 20," she says. "So I don't know if anyone would look to me for advice about that!"
