Who Is Kacey Musgraves’ Ex-Husband Ruston Kelly and Where To See Him Perform in 2021
Many people know Kacey Musgraves for her award-winning country music. But her ex-husband Ruston Kelly is also a singer-songwriter whose music has been used in popular shows like Nashville. Learn more about Kelly and his former relationship with Musgraves. Plus, find out where fans can see the artist perform in 2021.
Ruston Kelly is a singer-songwriter
Kelly is a singer-songwriter who has worked with country music icons like Tim McGraw, the Josh Abbott Band, Rob Baird, Hayes Carll, and Lucie Silvas. Kelly’s music has also been used in TV shows like Scorpion — his song “Black Magic” played in the season 2 finale — and Nashville. Kelly co-wrote “Face the Sun,” a song Charles Esten sings in the series.
Outside of his work with other artists, Kelly has a solo career. He has three EPs: The Bootleg Sessions (2013), Halloween (2017), and Dirt Emo Vol. 1 (2019), which contains a cover of Taylor Swift’s emo anthem “All Too Well.”
Kelly’s first studio album, Dying Star, came out in 2018. His sophomore album Shape & Destroy came out in 2020. In addition to being a song-writing force in country music, Kelly is widely known for his marriage to Musgraves.
Kacey Musgraves and Ruston Kelly had a Nashville-inspired romance
The duo met at the Bluebird Café in Nashville in 2016. During an interview with Glamour, Musgraves talked about meeting Ruston.
“His songs made me really emotional,” Musgraves told the outlet after seeing Ruston perform at the Nashville hotspot. “I thought, ‘This guy’s really clever, whoever he is.’” A few months later, Ruston was helping Musgraves write. He provided much of the inspiration for Musgraves’ 2018 release Golden Hour, including the song “Butterflies.”
“Then it was ‘That’s all she wrote’ — pun intended,” Musgraves continued. “Everything was right. I didn’t have to shift any part of my personality to make it fit together, which isn’t really something I’ve had before.”
Ruston proposed to Musgraves on Christmas Eve the following year, but their marriage didn’t last.
Kacey Musgraves is divorced
After nearly three years of marriage, Musgraves and Ruston filed for divorce in July 2020.
“With heavy but hopeful hearts we wanted to put our own thoughts into the air about what’s happening,” their statement read (via Associated Press).
These kinds of announcements are always met with scrutiny and speculation and we want to stop that before it even starts. We believe that we were put into each other’s lives for a divine reason and 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. 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 just didn’t work.
Though we are parting ways in marriage, we will remain true friends for the rest of our lives. We hold no blame, anger, or contempt for each other and we ask for privacy and positive wishes for us both as we learn how to navigate through this.
Ruston Kelly fans can watch him live Feb. 19, 2021
With the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic at play, Kelly cannot tour at this time. He is still planning a special live stream for his fans in February.
“While we wait to take my album Shape & Destroy on the road, I’m VERY excited to announce Stream & Destroy — a live-streamed show from the Blue Room at Third Man Records,” Kelly announced on Mandolin. Fans can purchase tickets at various prices through the Madolin site.
