10 hottest couples

Ebony, Feb, 1994 by Lynn Norment

Every week we see their faces smiling in the columns. They attend the big new York and Hollywood social gatherings -- the gala premiers, charitable benefits, festive dinners. And sometimes we spot them casually walking down the street holding hands, just like any other couple in love. And almost always they appear to be lost in each other's eyes and hearts and souls.

They are the hot couples, the sizzling duos. Sometimes married, oft-times not, they are the love-struck twosomes who do more than just make news: they are news. Their ups and downs, triumphs and trials, goings and comings, are the stuff of which headlines an gossip items are made. The popularity of Ebony's February 1993 hot couples' cover story inspired us to take a fresh look at who's hot and who's not among 1994 celebrity couples.

Two of the duos are repeated -- Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown, and Will and Sheree Smith -- for continuing career successes keep their professional as well as private happenings in the media spotlight. In addition, Spike Lee and bride Tonya Lewis jumped the broom in 1993, and there are rumors that Sen. Carol Moseley-Braun and Kgosie Matthews, and John Singleton and Tyra Banks may follow them into matrimony during the new year. On these pages are updates on some of the nation's hottest Black couples.

WHITNEY HOUSTON &BOBBY BROWN: First and foremost on the celebrity circuit are Grammy Award-winning superstar diva Whitney Houston and husband, pop/R&B recording artist Bobby Brown. Recently, the high-profile couple dazzled fans and television viewers with their drop-dead red-red outfits at the Billboard Music Awards gala. The couple are parents of Bobbi Kristina, who was born in March 1993. Whitney spent the past year performing in the U.S. and abroad, and was nominated for a whopping eight American Music Awards. In addition, she's considering several film possibilities to follow up her successful debut in The Bodyguard. Bobby's self-titled CD went platinum last year, and he's back in the studio recording his next album. In addition, Bobby's Triple B Records will introduce new artists in 1994.

SPIKE LEE & TONYA LEWIS-LEE: Filmmaker Spike Lee has long been a fixture on the New York and Hollywood celebrity scene, and now he is often accompanied by his bride, Tonya, an attorney who worked in Washington, D. C., before she and Lee were married last fall. And Lee is as busy as ever. Crooklyn, for which he is producer, director, writer and actor, stars Alfre Woodard and will be released by summer. Lee is executive producer of two other new films: Drop Squad, which is now being edited, and New Jersey Drive, which is in pre-production.

CAROL MOSELEY-BRAUN & KGOSIE MATTHEWS: Illinois Sen. Moseley-Braun and Kgosie Matthews are a popular couple in the social and political circles of Washington, D. C., and elsewhere. Matthews is vice chair of the Washington, D. C.-based Washington Strategic Consulting Group, which handles public affairs, lobbying and communications. And, yes, rumors of marriage continue to swirl as they have for the past year during which the senator established herself as a powerful voice and force in the marbled corridors of the nation's capitol. When asked if marriage is imminent, they just smile.

WILL AND SHEREE SMITH: The supertalented Fresh Prince is often accompanied by his pretty wife at big Hollywood openings. The couple are parents of 2-year old Will Smith III, who keeps them plenty busy at their California home. The career of the 24-year-old Grammy-winning actor-rapper continues to soar. In addition to his starring role on the enormously popular The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air, now in it's fourth season on NBC, Smith also stars in the critically acclaimed movie, Six Degrees Of Separation. His fifth album with D.J. Jazzy Jeff, Code Red, is already gold and destined to follow his previous release, Homebase, into platinum heaven.

KIM FIELDS &JOHN HENTON: As former child star Kim Fields returned to the limelight, so did her love life. The voluptuous co-star of the popular new Fox television show, living Single, is often escorted to Hollywood events by handsome actor/stand-up comic John Henton, who portrays Overton Wakefield Jones, the handyman on the show. Fields, a graduate of Pepperdine University in Malibu, is well-known to television audiences for her performance on the long-running hit series The Facts Of Life.

JOHN SINGLETON & TYRA BANKS (above): Over the past year love has blossomed between hot young director John Singleton, 25, and supermodel Tyra Banks, 20, who has a recurring role on The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air. In addition, Tyra has found success on the fashion runways of Europe as well as the U.S., and has been featured in a number of music videos and appeared on various other television shows. Singleton, of course, found success as director of Boyz N The Hood (1991), which garnered him two Oscar nominations, and the more recent Poetic Justice, which starred Janet Jackson.

ICE T & DARLENE: It's hard not to notice hardworking rap artist Ice T accompanied by his beautiful sweetheart, Darlene, described as "his lady, his longtime significant other." The couple have a 2-year-old son and live in Los Angeles. In addition, Ice T has been busy finishing a book, The Ice Opinion, and touring Europe with his rock band, Body Count, which will release an album in spring 1994, followed by a new Ice T album in the summer. Ice T also appears in two new films due for release in 1994, Surviving The Game and Johnny Mnemonic.