Richard Marx and Wife Daisy Fuentes 'Earned' Their Love: 'We Had to Wait a Long Time to Find Each Other' (Exclusive)

To Richard Marx, a successful relationship is built on a foundation of feeling "like we earned" the love that we receive.

The singer-songwriter, 61, tells PEOPLE ahead of his co-headlining performance with Rick Springfield at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville that after nearly a decade of being married to his wife, Daisy Fuentes Marx, he's confident that the strength of their love lies in the genuine appreciation they both still have for one another.

"We had to wait a long time to find each other," Richard, who hosts the new podcast and YouTube series Stories to Tell, adds. "We are best friends, but we never, ever take each other for granted or lose sight of the fact that we are in love and that we're lovers. So romance and seduction and all of it, even after we've been married almost 10 years, but we've been together almost 12 years."

The singer and Daisy tied the knot on Dec. 23, 2015 in Aspen, Colo. The couple then posted to Instagram on Christmas Day to share news of their nuptials with the world, alongside an image of the happy couple in a snow-covered background.

“On December 23rd, 2015 the magnificent @daisyfuentes gave me the honor of becoming my wife. #Aspen,” Richard wrote alongside the snapshot at the time.

A decade on from their big day and Richard maintains to PEOPLE, "I'm still absolutely bonkers for her, and she makes me feel like the most awesome, handsome, talented ... we lift each other up."

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"We are the biggest cheerleaders for each other," he continues. "And I think that that's really important is to, if you're going to go down a journey with someone, it's got to be somebody you really are rooting for. I want nothing but the best for her, and I know it's the same in return, so I just feel like we got really lucky finding each other."

The "Right Here Waiting" creator, who is also currently working on new music and gearing up to be the latest coach on The Voice Australia, previously told PEOPLE in September 2014 that working on his single, “Beautiful Goodbye" with Daisy, with whom he had not publicly revealed a relationship at the time, "made perfect sense to me," adding, "In addition to writing the song with me, Daisy is the epitome of sexy, elegance and class.”