It didn’t take long for Italian opera extraordinaire Andrea Bocelli to fall in love with his manager and wife, Veronica Berti.

Though the couple officially got married on March 21, 2014, Andrea once wrote in The Guardian that “effectively the marriage began when we met.” The story goes that in 2002, the actress and the acclaimed tenor wound up at the same party. While there, Andrea sang an aria for her, a piece called Occhi Di Fata (Fairy’s Eyes). Veronica was 18 at the time; Andrea had just divorced his first wife, Enrica Cenzatti (with whom he shares two sons, Amos and Matteo), after 10 years of marriage.

Veronica and Andrea in Milan, Italy in 2017.Daniele Venturelli

“Everybody was there, it was a really wonderful moment between us,” he recalled to the outlet about meeting Veronica. “It was the quickest, speediest start, because we moved in with each other that same night.”

And just like that, as Andrea tells it, the two started their relationship. According to Andrea, their 25-year age gap made things “easier, not harder.”

“Big age gaps are a tradition in my family — my own father and mother have one,” he said. “Plus, I am very religious, and age difference is something you see a lot in biblical marriages.”

Andrea and Veronica in Forte dei Marmi, Italy, in 2019. Daniele Venturelli

He continued to say that the glue that keeps them together has always been music — discussing, performing, and listening to it together. In 2012, the same year they welcomed their daughter, Virginia, into the world, they famously performed together a beautiful rendition of the love song “Qualche Stupido.”

In 2014, the two exchanged vows at the Sanctuary of Madonna di Montenero in Tuscany, Italy — the same day Virginia turned two. “Naturally, when two people feel like we do, they want to make it a permanent arrangement,” Andrea told The Daily Mail prior to marrying his manager. “It will happen from the religious and spiritual point of view, but it is a legal matter.”

Today, Andrea and Veronica, who now reside in Tuscany, have enjoyed a decade of marriage. Back in the height of COVID-19, the pair focused their efforts on raising money for relief efforts through the Andrea Bocelli Foundation. What’s more, that Easter, Andrea gifted the world with an incredible vocal performance during his Bocelli: Music for Hope concert at the Duomo Cathedral in Milan, Italy.

If that wasn’t enough, it turns out their daughter has picked up the musical gene from her dad! Virginia and Andrea have sung together over the years, most recently performing Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” on Strictly Come Dancing in November 2023. The rendition was so moving that it went viral months later on TikTok.

As for how the couple keeps the spark in their marriage alive, Veronica told People in March 2023 that the secret comes down to one simple rule.

“We’ve lived together almost 22 years now, and, at least at the beginning, spent 24 hours a day [together],” she told the outlet at the time. “Sometimes we don’t necessarily agree on the path, but we always agree on the aim. We rely on each other.”