1 of 2 | Richard Branson (R) was pictured with his wife, Joan Templeman, at his 2018 unveiling ceremony as the 2,647th Hollywood Walk of Fame star in Los Angeles. Templeman died Tuesday, according to her husband. File Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI | License Photo
Joan Templeman, the wife of billionaire Virgin Records founder Richard Branson, died this week. She was 80 years old.
Branson, 75, revealed his wife’s death Tuesday in an Instagram post.
The cause of her death was not listed.
“Heartbroken to share that Joan, my wife and partner for 50 years, has passed away,” Branson wrote attached with a photo of him and his late wife.
The couple reportedly met in early 1976 at a live-in recording studio constructed for Virgin and married in 1989.
Templeman went on to give birth to the couple’s two children, daughter Holly and son Sam.
“I am so deeply grateful to have had the privilege of being your son and being able to call you mum,” Sam Branson wrote in a tribute to his mother, calling her the “kindest, most loving, warm and abundantly generous woman to walk this Earth.”
The music entrepreneur described his wife as the “most wonderful mum and grandmum our kids and grandkids could have ever wished for.”
“She was my best friend, my rock, my guiding light, my world,” he added in part. “Love you forever, Joan x.”
Notable deaths of 2025
Jimmy CliffReggae singer Jimmy Cliff performs during The Climate Rally concert in honor of the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, in Washington on April 25, 2010. Cliff, a Grammy winner and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee died best known for “The Harder They Come,” died at the age of 81 on November 24. Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI | License Photo
