LL Cool J found love with his wife, Simone I. Smith, when they were teenagers. The rapper and host of the 2025 MTV Video Music Awards met his longtime love in 1987 in New York City, and they dated for about eight years before tying the knot in 1995. Throughout their relationship, LL Cool J (real name: James Todd Smith) and Simone have started a family together, supported each other's careers and lifted each other up during hard times - including Simone's journey with bone cancer in 2004.