On August 24, singer and actor Marques Houston and wife Miya will celebrate their fourth wedding anniversary. The two have come a long way since their nuptials in Corona, Calif. in 2020. Since that time, they’ve achieved the American dream of the home with the white picket fence, welcomed a daughter named Zara, 2, and a soon-to-be 1-year-old son named Greyson, and added two dogs for good measure (and because Miya is admittedly not a fan of odd numbers).
Even though Marques has been a star since childhood, from Batman in the R&B group Immature to playing Roger on Sister, Sister and producing and starring in the hit You Got Served and more, he finds the most joy in a quiet family life. Road trips from California to Oregon, Seattle next, to enjoy the nature and good vibes, trips to Disneyland to have fun with the kids. Family life has undoubtedly changed them both.
“It’s given me a different priority. I think now I prioritize my family, being a husband, being a dad, I think that’s a top priority for me over business, over everything,” he says. “When I was younger, everything was about work, business. I still run companies, I still do music, I still do all that. But being a dad and a husband, that’s where I’m happiest.”
Marques and Miya are happy. They are also close, both romantically and professionally. Miya is a makeup artist and content creator, and she helps with photography for his shoots. “We’re always working, and we’re together 24/7,” she says. The tight-knit bond of a husband and wife is always essential, but it’s especially important when that couple has to contend with a lot of commentary about their relationship.
“How do you just pick one?” Miya replies when asked about the biggest misconception surrounding their union. “There’s a few.”
Marques adds, “Because of our age difference, people just have all of these assumptions of what they think and what they’ve made up and all these crazy stories that we’ve heard about. And I mean, for us, it’s like whatever. Y’all don’t really know us, so we just kind of brush it off.”
Marques recently turned 43. Miya is 23. He proposed in 2019, and when the couple wed in 2020, she was 19. Ever since news of their nuptials hit the internet, there have been rumors about when they first started dating. Miya calls Chris Stokes, the longtime business partner of the crooner, a father figure and says that because Marques and Stokes have known each other since they were teenagers, people thought she and the “That Girl” singer were acquainted when she was young.
Marques has stated on his TV One Uncensored episode in 2023 that they actually met when she was 17 but didn’t get to know each other until “she was of age.” Still, it’s been hard to stop the comments and allegations of grooming that have popped up on their social media pages and even in their DMs.
“One thing I noticed, because I’ve talked to a couple of people, when I’ve talked to ’em, they’re like, ‘Oh, I just wanted to get your attention,’” he says of some of the comments he’s noticed and responded to. “‘I love your music!’ A lot of it is about attention.”
And while Marques, who has been active in the industry since 1990, hasn’t been ruffled by the response to their connection, Miya admits it was difficult for her initially.
“I feel like it was easier for Marques to adapt to that. He has been in the spotlight since he was nine, so he already knew how to take those punches. But for me, it’s new territory completely,” she says. “It is just crazy how people can really make up stories and really, truly believe it. You can tell them the truth, and they won’t believe it.”
Miya says she was receiving a variety of DMs from people, some of which were protective of her and others, the polar opposite.
“I was getting ‘Run!’ and ‘Blink twice if you need help!’ I was getting all of that,” she says, initially with a laugh. “I was getting death threats. It was crazy. It was really bad, but I feel like it made me stronger, honestly. It’s crazy to think that online comments can change you, but it did for sure. It took a toll on me in the beginning, but now I’m just doing my business on Instagram and TikTok and stuff, and I get off. I don’t really pay attention anymore.”
Something the couple did pay attention to, though, was the response to an interview Marques did in 2023 with PageSix. “During the conversation, he shared that dating women his own age prior to marrying Miya was complicated because some came with children, and he called that a “red flag” based on his past experiences.
“I think it was just one of those situations where I just was talking, and it just kind of got taken out of context and taken the wrong way,” he says of the backlash that came about. “I don’t mean any disrespect to anyone because there’s a lot of strong women out there who are single moms who are raising kids on their own and doing it all by themselves, and much respect to them because I see how hard it is even with us as a family raising children. So somebody alone in that, that’s commendable, and that’s to be praised.”
But controversy aside, the pair are focused – on one another, on their family, and on opportunities, including the release of a new album from Marques titled The Best Worst Year Ever at the end of August. He’s been in filmmaking since 2010, the CEO of film production company Footage Films, writing and producing more than 10 projects for TV, theaters, and Tubi, so getting back to music wasn’t as simple as people would think.
“This to me was a special project because I almost did not do the album. Chris Stokes and I sat and met about the album, and I had a lot of concerns about stepping back into music. I’m doing so much with my film company, running a business, writing, being a family man, being a father, being a husband, all of those things wrapped up into one. I was like, I don’t know if I can really give 110% to the music. But it was something I thought about, something I prayed about, and a lot of fans were like, we want some music, we want a tour.”
He released the single “Last Drop” from the album a few months ago, an interpolation of Tevin Campbell’s “Can We Talk,” which has accrued more than six million views on YouTube. The star is looking forward to sharing this new body of work with fans and his own family.
“It was definitely something that I wanted my family to be able to experience, even if it’s one last time just doing my music,” he says. “I think it’s my best album. I’m so happy for people to get this one.”
As we wrapped up our conversation, I asked the couple about plans for the future and about the importance of opening up about their relationship despite all of the things said about them online. They weren’t speaking with me to debunk anything. Instead, they were focused on making it clear that they are solid.
“You don’t see a lot of strong families in this day and time,” he says. “We have a strong family, and I think that’s what’s most important now.”
