Singers Kacey Musgraves and Ruston Kelly have filed for divorce after two years of marriage.
Musgraves and Kelly first met in 2016 at the Bluebird Café in Nashville, where Kelly was performing.
After organising a songwriting session together, the pair started dating, tying the knot in October 2017.
Just under three years later, the couple have released a joint statement through their representatives announcing their decision to separate.
“With heavy but hopeful hearts we wanted to put our own thoughts into the air about what’s happening,” they said in a statement shared by Associated Press.
“These kinds of announcements are always met with scrutiny and speculation and we want to stop that before it even starts.”
Musgraves and Kelly stated their belief that they were “put into each other’s lives for a divine reason” and that they have “both changed each other infinitely for the better”.
“The love we have for each other goes far beyond the relationship we’ve shared as husband and wife. It’s a soul connection that can never be erased.” they said.
The separated couple explained that they came to their decision together and expressed their hope that they will be able to maintain their friendship in the future.
“We’ve made this painful decision together – a healthy decision that comes after a very long period of trying the best we can. It simply didn’t work,” they wrote.
“Though we are parting ways in marriage, we will remain true friends for the rest of our lives.”
Musgraves and Kelly added that neither of them hold “blame, anger or contempt” for one another, requesting that they be given “privacy and positive wishes” following their announcement.
In July 2018, Musgraves spoke about falling in love with Kelly after serendipitously meeting him in Nashville, stating: “It was the last thing I’d expected.”
“I was sitting by myself at a table. Ruston played his first song, and I was just stunned by everything in it – the words, the melody, what he was saying. I was just sitting at this table, crying,” the Grammy Award-winning singer said.
