Chance The Rapper Recalls Meeting His Future Wife, Kirsten Bennett, At Age 9

Chance the Rapper and his wife, Kirsten Bennett, are gearing up to celebrate their one-year wedding anniversary, but the couple’s love story dates back a lot further than that. 

In a Wednesday appearance on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” the three-time Grammy winner recalled meeting Bennett for the first time when he was just 9 years old. 

“My mom worked at a real estate agency with her mom,” Chance said. “Her mom threw, like, a Christmas party. Her daughters love to dance, so they did a choreographed dance at this real estate party that I was at when I was 9. And I saw her dancing and I was like, ‘Let’s get married!’”

The 26-year-old Chicago native had previously opened up about how he and Bennett met in a series of tweets in March, shortly before the two threw a gala wedding celebration. (The couple had already legally tied the knot in a civil ceremony in December 2018.) 

At that Christmas party nearly two decades ago, Bennett and others were performing a routine to “Independent Women Part 1” by Destiny’s Child.

“I really shouldn’t even say ‘locked eyes’ ’cause really I was just staring at her, as she and her girls were conquering this choreography and mastering the art of lip-syncing in a way even the most professional performers have yet to accomplish,” he said. 

Though his father encouraged him to join Bennett on the dance floor, Chance quipped, “Young me was shy.” 

“This wasn’t the time or place,” he said. “Not just because it wasn’t my party, not because it was their moment to dance, not even ’cause I was nervous about dancing in front of folks. It’s ’cause I knew I was gonna marry that girl.”

Though Chance’s music career is in high gear now, it’s clear that family comes first. Earlier this week, the rapper announced he was postponing his forthcoming tour following the Sept. 6 birth of his second daughter, Marli Grace Bennett. 

Nonetheless, he gave fans a taste of what’s in store Wednesday with a live performance of “Eternal,” off his new album, “The Big Day.”