Joan 'Dulan' Boothe is a soft-spoken woman in her late 50s. She recalls the years and experiences she has shared with her husband, singer Ken Boothe, in a matter-of-fact way.

Not unromantic, just sober.

Joan met Ken well over 40 years ago when they were students at the Denham Town Elementary School.

"We were just friends during school, but after we left Denham Town we started talking. In those times you left when you were 15. Him approach me - I don't approach man - and I don't even remember how everything went because it was so long ago, but it was just like a miracle. At the time he wasn't a professional singer or anything like that," she said.

Ignored whispers of their hearts

Although the two had started to build a life together, it seems Ken wasn't quite ready to settle down. So they split for 10 years.

"It was difficult with his women and the other baby mothers, because he had started to travel at the time. I coped because I always loved him no matter what he did," she said calmly.

"... He went away and I was in Jamaica for about 10 years and we weren't together. He didn't remember me and I didn't care to remember him," she said.

No regrets

"When we got back together he matured a lot, a lot, lot. He wasn't the same player as he was before. This time him come back with an aim and no joke thing; him break offa that and just a settle down ... It's been 11 years since we got married, and so far it is good. But you know teeth and tongue must meet every now and then. I have no regrets, because is a good man."

Another thing Joan doesn't regret is leaving her childhood dreams of becoming a doctor behind. She says now that their five children are adults.

"I don't have anything looking for again. In the next three months I will be 60 and I'd like to live a long life. I want to just take things easy."

As for the loneliness that often accompanies being married to an artiste, Joan says this isn't an issue, because they often travel together.

"Usually anywhere him go, I'm there. Me and him always together. That's not what keeps us together; it contributes, but it's not the only thing. Love is the greatest thing. Is not no buy money thing that," she said.

Joan Whilby, wife and manager of gospel artiste Calvin 'Radikal Prodigal' Whilby, aslo called 'Bless', says there simply isn't enough time for the two to spend quality time together.

"One of the most difficult things in terms of being on the business side is managing my husband. But on the side of being married, the most difficult thing would be not having enough time, because there are times when he has to put all his energy and time into what he does, so we don't get to spend that quality time all the time," she said.

There is also the problem of the Christian and not-so-Christian groupies.

"You have them everywhere. I've been to places where they tear off his clothes, his chain, dem give you bad look, mi get phone call an mek up lies an yuh have people talk bout, she nuh love him ... But I don't have to prove to anybody how much I love my husband because it shows in the work I do for him, just in everything," said Whilby.

Though the two met in church, some were still sceptical about the couple's relationship. That didn't deter them, as such, they have a few 'aaaw' moments.

One came while Joan Wilby was studying marketing and management studies with a minor in political science at the University of the West Indies, and her then soon-to-be husband would attend classes for her if she couldn't make it in.

"I want to go back and study law, but I want to wait until my daughter is about 10; she's two now. My eldest daughter is 14 and for us, family comes first, because yuh know how the studying ting guh. Another goal I had outside of my career was to have a ministry for battered women, and right now a group of about 10 of us are doing the groundwork, and we're waiting until January to have the official launch," she said.

Michelle 'D'Angel' Downer, now Mrs. Moses 'Beenie Man' Davis, doesn't always travel with her husband, but says she takes it in stride.

"I consider my life pretty much normal, but the most difficult part is when he's away, when he goes off to do his musical tours. That's the most difficult part, but I understand. If I wasn't into music it probably would be much more difficult, but I do the same thing so I understand and we communicate every day," she said.

She also says trust is an important element in their relationship and groupies are a 'no-no'. "Well, I trust my husband entirely. He is an entertainer, and I'm an entertainer, so I know how that goes, but he knows the limit, and I'm not threatened in any way," she said.

Michelle is forging ahead with her career, despite pouring energy into her relationship. "As you know, I'm an entrepreneur. I want to expand, have a clothing line. I'm also working on my album to drop next year, so as a businesswoman, I plan to expand, and musically, the sky is the limit," D'Angel said.

On the other side of the salty sea, deejay Zumjay's wife, Aviesha Palmer, says she stays busy.

"I'm not insecure, but sometimes I get lonely. I think we've only been in long-distance relationships, not that I planned it that way," says Aviesha, who lives in New York.

" ... One of the things is staying busy most of the time, I am always busy, so you don't think about these stuff when you have a lot to do, you worry less."

It's this distance why the newly-wed doesn't have any horror tales about groupies. However, in the initial stages of their relationship she had concerns.

Not insecure

"No, thankfully, I've never had to deal with them, nor am I insecured, but maybe that is because I spend most of my time in New York ... Before we became serious, that was one of my concerns. I had issues with the image of artistes in general, and because of that I had difficulty looking at him in a particular light, so I was pretty conservative, and based on my background, coming up, I've been basically on the straight and narrow path," she said.

Aviesha was born in Jamaica, but moved to New York with her adopted parents when she was six years old. However, when her parents returned to Jamaica in 1996 she went to Hydel High School for one year, and that's where the then teenagers' paths crossed.

"When I moved back to Jamaica and started going to Hydel (where we met) he would always come over to me and ask, 'Are you happy'," she said laughingly, "That is how he would always start the conversation. That was funny, though."

She then went to The Queen's High School, and "then I got into Cornell University, where I was president of the Caribbean Students' Association, president of the Minority Finance Commission, and I was also in the dance troupe there."

Entrepreneurial spirit

Aviesha, who recently graduated with a major in economics and Spanish and a minor in Latin American studies, is now an insurance broker (risk analyst).

"I definitely have an entrepreneurial spirit and I definitely plan to go to business school to get my MBA, so for now I'm getting the work experience and I love what I do," she said.