Jon Batiste Gives Update on Wife's Health Amid Leukemia Battle, Shares Sweet Advice on Love (Exclusive)

The five-time GRAMMY winner opened up about his lovely wife while walking the red carpet at the Met Gala.

Jon Batiste is a glass half-full kinda guy. Case in point -- amid his wife, Suleika Jaouad's, second bout with leukemia, the five-time GRAMMY-winning singer is smiling, dancing and counting his blessings thanks to a promising update about her health.

The 35-year-old musician spoke with ET's Rachel Smith on Monday night as he arrived on the red carpet for the Met Gala and explained why he feels blessed -- and it has everything to do with Jaouad having an incredible couple of weeks.

"She's doing great," Batiste revealed. "This is actually the best two weeks we've had so far. I'm very grateful. We are blessed by God. God's holding us and lifting us up." 

After an impromptu performance of his hit track, "Freedom," Batiste professed his love for his new wife and offered advice on finding the one.

Jon Batiste attends the 2022 Met Gala celebrating "In America: An Anthology of Fashion" at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 2, 2022 in New York City. - Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue

"I have so much that I wanna say about her because I could speak just about her radiance endlessly," said the band leader for The Late Show With Stephen Colbert. "We met when we were in band camp. She was 12 and I was 14. We’ve been knowing each other for 20 years. And it’s just such an incredible thing. If you find the right person, lock it in. Life is short. You never know what’s going to happen so you just gotta lock it in. These moments are beautiful -- the highs and lows of life. Just stay with the one you love and everything will be OK."

Suleika Jaouad and Jon Batiste attend the 93rd Annual Academy Awards at Union Station on April 25, 2021 in Los Angeles, California. - Matt Sayles/A.M.P.A.S. via Getty Images

Batiste also revealed that while Jaouad was attending the event, she didn't walk the red carpet because "crowds are still very tough," but noted that he was going to be "in and out" of the Met Gala so he can be with her.

Last month, during an interview for CBS Sunday Morning, the 14-time GRAMMY-nominated singer announced he and his longtime girlfriend secretly wed in February on the eve of her bone marrow transplant.  

Earlier this month, while backstage at the GRAMMYs, ET spoke with Batiste about the recent nuptials, and the singer said it wasn't something that came out of left field.

"Yes, well, you know, this is the thing about life. You have to go with the moment, you have to know when it’s the time to do something and that's what we did," he told ET at the time. "Yes, we've been thinking about it for so long, planning it, and we did it, got married, boom boom."

RELATED CONTENT:

 

 

Latest News